or- 


me 


THE  SECRET  TOLL 


By 
PAUL  AND  MABEL  THORNE 

AUTHORS  or  "THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY" 


NEW  YORK 

DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 
1922 


COPYRIGHT,    1922 

BY    DODD,    MEAD   AND    COMPANY,    INC. 

ft 


THE  PLIMPTON   PRESS •NORWOOD  -MASS 
PRINTED     IN     THE     UNITED     STATES     OF     AMERICA 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I      THE  TOLL  is  EXACTED 3 

II  "  FRIENDS  OF  THE  POOR  n  .  .  .  .  15 

III  ENGINEERING-CRIMINOLOGY  .  .  29 

IV      THE  CAR  IN  THE  FOG 45 

V      THE  HAUNTED  TREE 57 

VI      THE  FLAMING  HAND 73 

VII      SPIRIT  CLUES 84 

VIII  THE  GIRL  ON  THE  HORSE  ....  97 

IX      LUCY no 

X      CROSSED  THEORIES 121 

XI      TELEPHONE  CALLS 134 

XII      SATURDAY    153 

XIII      A  PUZZLING  WARNING 176 

XIV      THE  INTRUDERS 187 

XV      THE  MASK  OF  DEATH   197 

XVI      THE  FATAL  DANCE 209 

XVII      AT  THE  DOORSTEP 219 

XVIII      TRIANGULATION 231 

XIX      FACE  TO  FACE 238 

XX  THE  INVISIBLE  DETECTIVE  .  .  .  252 


2138605 


me 


THE  SECRET  TOLL 

CHAPTER    I 

THE  TOLL  IS  EXACTED 

I'M  damned  if  I  give  up  a  cent!  I'll  die 
first!" 

"  You  very  likely  will.  Others  have.  To 
refuse  these  people  is  the  first  step  toward 
suicide." 

"  But  are  the  police  so  impotent  that  a  gang 
like  this  one  can  operate  unmolested  right 
under  their  very  noses?" 

"  The  police  are  efficient  in  ordinary  cases. 
These  people,  however,  operate  mysteriously. 
So  far,  the  police  have  been  helpless." 

The  two  men  who  thus  discussed  a  criminal 
clique  which  was  extorting  money  from  promi- 
nent and  wealthy  citizens  were  seated  in  an 
exclusive  Michigan  Avenue  club.  From  their 
deeply  upholstered  leather  chairs  they  looked 
out  across  the  busy  street,  with  its  hundreds  of 
automobiles  and  strolling  pedestrians,  to  the 

3 


4  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

green  lawns  and  leafing  trees  of  Grant  Park, 
awakened  into  renewed  life  by  the  soft  breezes 
and  warm  sunshine  of  early  June. 

To  the  first  speaker,  Robert  Forrester,  lately 
returned  from  army  service  in  Europe,  and 
familiar  with  the  privations,  struggles  and 
horrors  of  the  great  war,  it  seemed  ridiculous 
that  a  band  of  criminals  could  endanger  life  in 
the  heart  of  this  bustling,  crowded,  well-policed 
city.  Yet  the  threat  was  in  his  hand,  and  his 
older  and  presumably  wiser  companion  assured 
him  that  they  could  make  good  the  threat. 

Robert  Forrester  was  a  young  man  of  thirty 
—  tall,  dark  and  broad  shouldered ;  his  face 
deeply  tanned  by  long  army  service.  As  a 
member  of  an  old  and  wealthy  family,  of  which 
he  was  the  sole  male  survivor  and  head, 
Forrester  might  have  followed  the  path  se- 
lected by  many  of  his  boyhood  chums  and  spent 
his  life  in  the  pursuit  of  pleasure  or  more  or 
less  indifferent  occupations.  He  had  chosen, 
however,  to  became  a  civil  engineer  j  was  gradu- 
ated with  honors,  and  had  taken  active  part  in 
the  completion  of  several  big  railroad  projects 
before  the  great  war. 

When  the  United  States  entered  the  war  he 
at  once  enlisted  and  went  to  France  as  an  army 


THE   TOLL    IS    EXACTED          5 

engineer.  He  had  been  home  now  for  several 
months  and  was  planning  to  resume  work  in 
his  profession  at  the  first  opportunity.  The 
financial  and  business  condition  of  the  country 
did  not  favor  large  construction  work  at  this 
time,  so  he  was  still  lingering  in  Chicago,  spend- 
ing much  of  his  time  at  the  club,  where  he 
could  keep  in  close  touch  with  some  of  the  far- 
sighted  and  influential  men  who  planned  and 
made  possible  the  big  undertakings  which  would 
give  him  the  opportunity  he  sought. 

His  companion  and  confidant  of  the  moment, 
Frederick  Prentice,  was  past  middle  age.  The 
possessor  of  large,  inherited  wealth,  he  was 
totally  unlike  the  younger  and  more  energetic 
man.  He  had  never  entered  business,  and  the 
only  times  he  ever  condescended  to  visit  a 
business  office  were  occasioned  by  infrequent 
plunges  into  speculation  through  a  broker 
friend,  or  the  necessity  of  calling  on  his 
lawyer. 

In  his  easy-going,  well-financed  existence  he 
had  had  few  problems  or  worries.  To  Prentice 
the  easiest  way  out  was  the  logical  course. 

Forrester  knew  this  as  well  as  any  man,  and 
was  therefore  little  inclined  to  heed  the  well- 
meant  advice  which  Prentice  was  giving  him  — 


6  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

to  yield  without  a  murmur  to  the  outrageous 
and  exorbitant  demand  that  had  been  made 
upon  him. 

The  young  man  opened  the  clenched  hand 
in  which  he  had  crushed  the  warning  message 
when  making  his  vehement  declaration.  He 
smoothed  out  the  offending  paper  on  his  knee 
and  glared  at  it  —  reading  again  the  words  that 
enraged  him  more  each  time  he  studied  them. 
The  message  was  crudely  hand-printed  on  a 
square  of  ordinary  wrapping  paper  such  as  can 
be  found  in  any  store.  At  the  top  was  the 
rough  drawing  of  a  human  skull.  Forrester 
read  the  words  aloud. 

In  Jasper  lane  two  hundred  feet  west  of 
Sheridan  Road  you  will  see  a  great  oak  tree  on 
the  left  side.  Before  midnight  Saturday  place 
$IO,OOO  in  the  opening  you  will  find  in  this 
tree. 

Failure  to  comply  means  death.     Be  warned! 

FRIENDS  OF  THE  POOR 

"  On  the  other  side,"  declared  Forrester, 
"  we  lived  and  tramped  and  fought  with  spies 
and  informers  at  our  elbows.  Enemy  agents, 
ready  to  turn  a  dastardly  trick  at  any  moment, 
were  on  every  hand.  Though  conditions  were 
just  ripe  for  them,  sooner  or  later  we  spotted 


THE   TOLL    IS    EXACTED          7 

them  —  practically  every  one.  Do  you  mean 
to  tell  me  that  here,  in  a  peaceful,  law-abiding 
city,  with  trained  police  and  intelligent  detec- 
tives, we  can't  run  down  a  blackmailing  crew 
like  this  one?  r 

"  That  is  exactly  what  has  happened,"  said 
Prentice. 

"  And  you  want  me  to  believe  that  every  one 
of  the  victims  has  given  up  without  a  fight ; 
that  no  real  effort  has  been  made  to  apprehend 
these  desperadoes?" 

"My,  no!"  exclaimed  Prentice.  "Several 
of  the  men  threatened  went  to  the  police.  The 
police  put  their  best  men  on  the  case  for  weeks, 
but  so  far  as  I  know,  they  never  discovered  a 
worth  while  clue." 

"  What  happened  to  those  men  who  re- 
sisted?" inquired  Forrester. 

"  They  either  finally  acceded  to  the  demands, 
or  were  found  dead.  That  is  why  I  warned 
you  to  pay  and  say  nothing.  Remember,  Bob, 
you  have  been  away  for  a  long  period,  while 
I  have  stayed  on  right  here  in  the  city  a  greater 
part  of  the  time.  I  know  exactly  what  has 
transpired  in  this  matter  j  I  speak  from  actual 
experience" 

"  Experience?"  questioned  Forrester,  noting 


8  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

something  significant  in  the  stress  which  Pren- 
tice laid  on  his  last  words. 

"  Young  man,"  said  Prentice,  shaking  a  finger 
at  Forrester,  "  you  may  have  had  wider  ex- 
perience with  some  angles  to  life  than  I  have 
had.  On  the  other  hand,  I  possess  the  calmer 
judgment  that  comes  with  advancing  years. 
And  I  know  more  about  this  situation  than  you 
do.  I  advise  you  to  draw  ten  thousand  dollars 
from  that  ample  bank  account  of  yours,  put  it 
in  that  tree  before  midnight  Saturday,  and  con- 
sider yourself  lucky  to  get  off  so  easily." 

"  I'll  not  do  it ! "  declared  Forrester. 

Prentice  extended  his  hand.  "  Let  me  see 
that  paper,  Bob,"  he  requested.  The  paper 
was  handed  over  and  Prentice  studied  it 
carefully. 

"  Yes,"  commented  Prentice,  slowly,  as  he 
handed  back  the  message.  "  It  is  unquestion- 
ably from  the  same  people.  That  is  a  dupli- 
cate of  the  warning  which  I  received." 

"Did  you  get  one,  too?"  exclaimed  For- 
rester. 

"A  year  ago  —  just  about  this  time,"  di- 
vulged Prentice.  "In  fact,  so  far  as  I  know, 
I  was  the  first  man  upon  whom  the  demand 
was  made.  When  I  went  to  the  police  about 


THE   TOLL    IS    EXACTED          9 

it,  they  claimed  that  it  was  the  first  time  any- 
thing of  the  kind  had  come  to  their  attention." 

"  Tell  me  about  it,  Prentice,"  urged 
Forrester. 

"  I  will,"  agreed  Prentice.  "  After  you  have 
heard  my  experience,  you  will  realize  more 
fully  why  I  have  told  you  to  pay  and  say 
nothing. 

"  As  I  said  before,  it  was  just  about  this 
time  last  year  that  a  duplicate  of  that  notice 
was  fastened  to  my  front  door  with  a  knife. 
A  maid  found  it  when  she  went  to  bring  in  the 
morning  paper,  and  presented  it  to  me  at  the 
breakfast  table.  I  had  much  the  same  feeling 
that  you  have  regarding  it;  although  I  did  not 
take  it  quite  so  seriously.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
I  regarded  it  as  a  joke,  until  a  few  days  later 
a  second  warning  came  in  the  mail. 

"  I  had,  of  course,  destroyed  the  first  warn- 
ing, but  the  second  I  took  to  the  police,  and 
laid  the  matter  before  them.  They  arranged 
with  me  to  try  to  trap  these  people.  The  night 
that  my  time  expired  I  took  a  dummy  package 
and  placed  it  in  that  tree.  The  police  kept 
watch  in  the  woods  all  night  without  seeing  or 
hearing  anyone.  In  the  morning,  they  found 
the  package  still  in  the  tree,  but  attached  to  it 


io  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

was  a  note  stating  that  these  people  were  not 
to  be  fooled,  and  allowing  me  three  days  in 
which  to  pay  or  take  the  consequences. 

"  For  two  weeks  after  that  the  police  watched 
the  tree,  and  a  detective  accompanied  me  where- 
ever  I  went.  There  was  no  attack  upon  me, 
and  the  police  assured  me  that  it  was  un- 
doubtedly the  practical  joke  of  some  friend. 
They  withdrew  my  detective  guard  and  I 
thought  the  matter  had  ended. 

"  A  few  days  later,  however,  as  I  was  re- 
turning home  along  the  North  Shore  in  my  car 
one  night,  a  figure  leaped  upon  each  running 
board.  They  wore  long  black  hoods  with 
nothing  save  their  eyes  visible  through  openings 
cut  in  the  hoods.  These  men  pointed  revolvers 
at  me  and  ordered  me  to  stop.  They  said  that 
they  represented  the  'Friends  of  the  Poor,' 
and  told  me  that  the  time  had  come  to  pay  the 
penalty  for  not  complying  with  their  demands. 
You  can  imagine  my  state  of  mind.  I  saw  that 
the  matter  was  really  serious,  and  not  a  practical 
joke  after  all.  I  told  them  that  I  had  thought 
it  a  joke  and  pleaded  with  them.  They  finally 
allowed  me  to  go  upon  my  promising  to  place 
the  money  in  the  tree  the  following  evening. 

"  After  drawing  the  money  from  the  bank, 


THE   TOLL    IS    EXACTED         n 

I  informed  the  police  about  my  adventure,  and 
they  arranged  to  watch  the  tree  again  that 
night.  I  placed  the  money  in  the  tree,  and 
although  five  detectives  remained  all  night 
only  a  little  distance  away,  they  heard  and  saw 
nothing.  In  the  morning  the  money  was  gone! 

"  During  last  summer  several  other  wealthy 
men  received  demands  for  money.  So  far  as 
I  have  knowledge  of  the  matter,  they  either 
paid  the  money,  or  were  later  found  dead. 
With  the  first  fall  of  snow  the  activities  of  this 
band  ceased.  A  detective,  detailed  to  the  case, 
told  me  he  thought  they  had  stopped  operations 
because  of  the  snow.  When  they  approached 
the  tree,  he  explained,  they  would  naturally 
leave  tracks  in  the  snow,  in  that  way  giving  some 
hint  to  the  police.  I  was  inclined  to  believe, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  they  had  obtained  all 
the  money  they  wished ;  or  else  had  concluded 
that  the  police  were  aroused  to  such  an  extent 
that  it  would  be  dangerous  to  keep  on.  This 
notice  to  you,  however,  seems  to  indicate  that 
the  detective  with  the  snow-theory  was  pretty 
nearly  right.  Probably  this  warning  to  you  is 
the  beginning  of  another  war  to  be  waged  upon 
the  wealthy  men  of  the  city  this  summer." 

"  Your  story  is  certainly  interesting,  Pren- 


12  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

tice,"  said  Forrester,  "but  something  really 
ought  to  be  done.  If  these  men  are  allowed  to 
prey  upon  wealth  in  this  mysterious  way,  there 
is  no  limit  to  the  harm  which  they  may  accom- 
plish. Why,  just  think  of  it!  Unmolested, 
they  might  become  bolder  and  bolder,  and  by 
steadily  levying  this  secret  toll,  practically  ruin 
every  wealthy  man  in  Chicago." 

"  Well,"  returned  Prentice, "  probably  sooner 
or  later  the  police  will  get  them.  So  far  as  I 
am  concerned,  however,  I  would  pay  over  the 
money  at  any  time  rather  than  have  another 
experience  such  as  the  one  I  described  to  you. 
If  you  want  to  hire  detectives,  Bob,  or  stir  up 
the  police  as  I  did,  do  so,  by  all  means,  but  in 
the  meantime  take  my  advice  and  pay  the 
money." 

At  this  moment  an  attendant  approached, 
informing  Forrester  that  he  was  wanted  on  the 
telephone.  Excusing  himself  to  Prentice,  For- 
rester went  to  the  telephone  to  find  that  his 
mother  was  calling  him. 

"  Son,"  she  said,  "  Mr.  Nevins  has  met  with 
a  serious  accident.  Josephine  and  I  are  going 
over  to  see  Mrs.  Nevins.  She  has  just  tele- 
phoned, asking  us  to  call  and  stay  with  her  the 
rest  of  the  day;  so  we  shall  not  be  home  to 


THE   TOLL    IS    EXACTED        13 

dinner.  I  wanted  you  to  know  so  you  would 
not  worry  about  us." 

"All  right,  Mother,"  replied  Forrester. 
"  I'll  phone  the  house  later  and  if  Charlie  is 
going  to  be  in  this  evening  I'll  run  over  and 
bring  you  home.  Good-bye." 

The  Nevins  family  and  his  own  had  been 
close  friends  for  years.  This  friendship  was 
about  to  be  turned  into  relationship  through  the 
recently  announced  engagement  of  Forrester's 
sister,  Josephine,  to  Charles  Nevins,  the  banker's 
son. 

Forrester  hung  up  the  receiver  and  returned 
to  the  lounging  room  to  rejoin  Prentice.  As  he 
crossed  the  room  he  saw  that  Prentice  was  read- 
ing one  of  the  sensational  evening  papers,  for 
even  from  a  distance  Forrester  could  read  the 
glaring  headlines: 

"  FRIENDS  OF  THE  POOR  " 
COMMIT  NEW  MURDER 

Prentice  held  the  paper  out  for  Forrester  to 
see  when  the  young  man  joined  him,  with  the 
remark,  "  Evidently  you  did  not  get  the  first 
warning  of  the  season,  Bob,  as  I  thought. 
Here's  a  man  who  received  a  notice  two  weeks 
ago,  and  assumed  the  same  attitude  that  you 


i4  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

did  this  afternoon  toward  this  mysterious 
band." 

"Who  was  he?" 

"George  Nevins,  the  banker!" 

"  George  Nevins! "  repeated  Forrester,  aghast 
at  the  news. 

"  Yes,  old  George  Nevins  —  the  tightest  man 
in  Chicago.  Pll  wager  he  fought  as  hard  as 
any  one  could,  but  see  what  happened!" 
Prentice  paused  a  moment,  then  added,  im- 
pressively, "  Do  you  still  want  to  fight?" 

"  Harder  than  ever  now! "  asserted  Forrester. 

This  was  bringing  it  very  close  to  home. 
Forrester  wanted  to  be  alone  to  think  it  over, 
so  he  gave  his  telephone  call  as  an  excuse,  and 
took  leave  of  Prentice. 

"  '  Failure  to  comply  means  death ! '  "  quoted 
Prentice,  warningly,  as  Forrester  turned  to  go. 


" 


CHAPTER    II 


FRIENDS    OF    THE    POOR 


ON  LEAVING  the  club,  Forrester  strolled 
slowly  and  thoughtfully  north  along 
Michigan  Avenue.  The  knowledge  that  old 
Mr.  Nevins  had  met  his  death  at  the  hands  of 
the  same  people  who  now  threatened  him, 
impressed  Forrester  with  the  seriousness  of  the 
situation.  Always  a  fighter,  his  army  training 
had  developed  this  side  of  his  nature  to  a  point 
where  it  was  practically  impossible  for  him  to 
accede  to  an  unjust  demand  without  a  struggle. 

It  was  Tuesday.  Forrester  reflected  that  he 
had  but  four  days  in  which  to  freely  carry  out 
any  plan  which  he  might  decide  upon.  In  view 
of  Prentice's  experience,  and  the  startling  death 
of  Mr.  Nevins,  there  was  no  question  that  after 
midnight  Saturday  every  move  Forrester  made 
would  be  attended  with  danger. 

Immersed  in  these  thoughts,  Forrester  sud- 
denly found  himself  in  front  of  the  public 
library  building  at  Washington  Street.  It  re- 

's 


1 6  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

minded  him  that  the  city  detective  bureau  was 
on  La  Salle  Street  at  about  this  point.     In 
spite  of  the  apparent  non-success  of  the  police, 
he  decided  that  his  first  duty  would  be  to  report 
to  them  the  demand  just  made  upon  him.     A 
few  minutes  later  Forrester  entered  the  de- 
tective bureau  and  sent  in  his  card  to  the  Chief 
of  Detectives.     After  being  admitted  to  the 
Chief's  office  Forrester  laid  the  message  from 
the  "  Friends  of  the  Poor  "  before  the  head  of 
the  detective  bureau,  with  the  remark: 
"  Pm  next!     What  shall  I  do  about  it?" 
"  Mr.  Forrester,"  said  the  Chief,  after  only 
a  hasty  glance  at  the  notice,  which  showed  his 
familiarity  with  the  subject,  "  sorry  as  I  am  to 
say  it,  the  Department  has  made  little  progress 
in  this  matter.     We  have  a  half-dozen  detec- 
tives working  on  the  case  right  now.     Detective 
Sergeants  Cahill  and  O'Connor  have  given  it 
special  study.     They  have  been  working  among 
the  West  Side  joints  for  some  time,  and  today 
they  reported  to  me  that  they  think  they  have 
a  line  on  some  of  these  men.     Nothing  definite, 
understand,  but  it  is  the  first  suggestion  of  a 
clue  which  we  have  had. 

"  The  probabilities  are  that  between  now  and 
Saturday   you  will   not   be   bothered.     After 


"FRIENDS    OF    THE   POOR"         17 

Saturday,  however,  if  we  have  made  no  further 
progress,  I  suggest  that  you  stay  off  the  streets 
at  night,  and  that  during  the  day  you  select 
only  the  main  thoroughfares  for  going  about 
the  city.  If  you  have  any  friends  in  the  North 
Shore  suburbs,  and  you  probably  have,  I  recom- 
mend that  you  do  not  visit  them  for  the  present. 
If  you  wish  it,  I  will  put  a  police  guard  at  your 
home." 

"  I  don't  want  to  be  coddled,"  objected 
Forrester.  "  I'm  an  ex-service  man  and  I  think 
that  I  can  take  care  of  myself." 

"  You  needn't  be  ashamed  to  take  precautions 
in  a  case  like  this,"  explained  the  Chief.  "  This 
gang  is  both  dangerous  and  clever.  If  Mr. 
Nevins,  whose  death  has  just  been  reported,  had 
allowed  me  to  give  him  a  police  guard,  as  I 
wished,  he  would  probably  be  alive  today.  You 
are  really  helping  the  police  when  you  allow 
us  to  give  you  a  police  guard,  for  if  these 
fellows  show  themselves  in  any  way,  our  man  is 
there  ready  to  act.  If  anything  happens  to  you 
when  no  one  is  around,  then  we  are  simply 
confronted  with  another  mystery  and  have  much 
of  our  work  to  do  over  again." 

"  That's    very    logical    reasoning,    Chief," 
agreed  Forrester,  "  and  I  thank  you  for  the 


!g  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

offer.  But  I  would  not  have  a  moment's  peace 
of  mind  with  a  detective  or  a  policeman  hang- 
ing around  my  heels.  I  am  perfectly  willing 
to  take  my  chance.  In  fact,  I  did  not  come 
to  you  for  protection,  but  simply  to  talk  this 
matter  over  with  you,  and  see  if  something 
definite  cannot  be  done  to  eradicate  these 
criminals.  I  am  doubly  interested,  not  only 
because  I  have  received  this  notice,  but  from 
the  fact  that  my  sister  is  engaged  to  Mr.  Nevins* 
son,  thus  practically  bringing  his  death  right 
into  our  family.  It  is  the  principle  of  the  thing 
which  I  want  to  fight  —  and  if  there  is  anything 
I  can  do  to  help,  outside  of  having  a  detective 
trailing  me  around,  I  want  to  do  it." 

"  Well,  of  course,"  replied  the  Chief,  "  we 
cannot  force  a  police  guard  upon  you,  but  out- 
side of  that  there  is  really  nothing  that  you 
could  do.  It  takes  both  experience  and  a 
special  kind  of  ability  to  carry  on  detective  work. 
To  be  perfectly  frank  with  you,  novices  only 
hamper  us.  All  I  can  say  is,  leave  this  notice 
with  us  and  we  will  do  what  we  can  in  the 
matter." 

"  No,"  returned  Forrester,  "  I  don't  want 
to  leave  this  notice.  I  want  to  keep  it  for  my 
own  use.  My  mind  is  fully  made  up  to  take 


"FRIENDS    OF   THE   POOR"        19 

an  active  part  in  this  hunt  myself.  I  should 
appreciate  it  if  you  will  tell  your  men  about  me 
and  explain  that  if  they  find  me  doing  mysteri- 
ous things  in  out-of-the-way  places,  not  to 
mistake  me  for  one  of  the  criminals.  If  I  find 
out  anything,  or  have  any  suspicions,  I  will  let 
you  know." 

"All  right,"  laughed  the  Chief.  "Play 
around  if  you. want  to,  but  for  the  love  of  Mike, 
don't  get  under  our  feet."  The  Chief  and 
Forrester  exchanged  friendly  good-byes  and 
the  young  man  passed  out  into  La  Salle 
Street. 

Forrester  reflected  that  Prentice  was  right. 
While  the  detective  chief  had  maintained  an 
encouraging  attitude,  it  was  clear  that  this  was 
merely  to  "  save  the  face  "  of  the  Department 
so  far  as  it  was  possible.  Between  the  lines 
of  the  Chief's  words  Forrester  had  read  the 
helpless  and  hopeless  position  in  which  the 
police  were  placed.  It  seemed  like  pure  egoism 
for  him  to  attempt  to  accomplish  something  in 
which  experienced  detectives  had  failed,  yet 
Forrester  felt  that  he  should  make  some  effort 
to  solve  the  mystery  behind  this  menace.  After 
all,  he  reasoned,  could  the  solution  to  this 
problem  be  so  much  more  difficult  than  many  of 


20  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

the  engineering  problems  which  he  had  attacked 
and  mastered. 

It  now  occurred  to  him  that  he  had  not 
thought  to  ask  Prentice  if  any  private  detective 
agencies  had  ever  been  put  on  the  case.  So 
far  as  his  present  knowledge  of  the  matter  went 
the  problem  had  been  left  entirely  in  the  hands 
of  the  police,  and  yet  he  knew  that  in  many 
instances  private  agencies  had  been  successful 
where  the  police  had  failed.  Forrester  decided, 
therefore,  that  his  next  step  would  be  to  consult 
with  one  of  these  agencies.  He  went  to  a 
nearby  cigar  store  and  consulted  the  classified 
telephone  directory.  Under  the  heading  of 
"  Detectives  "  he  found  a  long  list  of  agencies 
and  independent  operatives.  Several  famous 
names  stood  out  in  this  list,  but  Forrester  fancied 
that  these  big  agencies  would  merely  put  an 
ordinary  operative  on  the  case,  while  he  felt 
that  the  matter  needed  the  attention  of  a  bigger 
man.  Obviously,  by  going  to  a  smaller  agency, 
it  would  be  easier  to  get  the  head  of  the  agency 
to  do  the  work.  While  these  thoughts  were 
passing  through  his  mind,  Forrester's  eye  caught 
a  small  advertisement  in  the  center  of  the  page. 


"FRIENDS    OF   THE   POOR"        21 

GREEN'S  NATIONAL  DETECTIVE 
AGENCY 

SECRET  SERVICE    OF   ALL   KINDS 
Correspondents  in  All  the  Leading  Cities  of  the  World 

BENJAMIN  F.  GREEN,  Principal 
Commercial  Building,  Chicago 

Forrester  decided  to  call  on  Mr.  Green. 

He  found  "  Green's  National  Detective 
Agency  "  to  consist  of  two  small  rooms.  In 
the  outer  room  he  was  met  by  a  woman  of  un- 
certain age  and  colorless  personality  who  im- 
mediately ushered  him  into  Mr.  Green's  office. 
Green  was  a  large,  strongly  built  man  with  thin 
black  hair,  carefully  brushed  over  a  bald  spot, 
and  a  bristling  black  mustache.  The  detective 
was  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  a  half-burned,  unlit 
cigar  gripped  in  the  corner  of  his  mouth,  and 
a  well-polished  badge  gleaming  on  the  left 
breast  of  his  unbuttoned  waistcoat. 

"  How-do,"  he  said,  rising  to  greet  Forrester, 
and  added,  "  Have  a  chair,"  pushing  one  in  the 
direction  of  Forrester  with  his  foot. 

The  two  men  sat  down  and  after  Green  had 


22  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

shifted  his  cigar  to  the  other  side  of  his  mouth, 
he  inquired,  "  What  can  I  do  for  you?" 

"  Ever  hear  of  the  *  Friends  of  the  Poor '?" 
inquired  Forrester,  going  straight  to  the  point. 

Green  sat  up  in  his  chair  with  a  jerk. 

"  You  been  gettin'  one  o'  them  notices?  "  he 
asked. 

Forrester  took  out  the  warning  message  and 
laid  it  on  Green's  desk.  The  detective's  eyes 
sparkled  as  he  leaned  over  and  closely  examined 
it. 

"  Gee! "  he  exclaimed,  at  length.  "  I've  just 
been  dyinj  to  get  onto  this  case.  So  you're  one 
o'  them  rich  guys  they're  after,  eh?" 

"  I  gather  from  what  you  say,  Mr.  Green, 
that  you  know  something  about  the  matter," 
said  Forrester. 

"  Do  I?"  cried  Green.  "  I'll  show  you  how 
I've  been  f  ollowin'  that  thing  up."  He  reached 
into  a  drawer  of  his  desk,  drew  out  a  folder  and 
opened  it  before  him.  Forrester  saw  that  it 
contained  newspaper  clippings  and  various  hand- 
written notes. 

"  I'll  tell  you,  Mister,"  said  Green,  "  I've 
been  followin'  this  here  case  right  from  the 
start.  I've  got  some  theories,  too,  that  I  ain't 
been  tellin'  to  nobody.  I've  just  been  itchin' 


"FRIENDS    OF   THE   POOR"        23 

to  get  busy  on  it,  but  you  know  us  guys  have  to 
make  a  livin'  —  we  can't  work  on  a  case  for 
nothin'.  " 

"  Well,"  informed  Forrester,  "  Pm  going  to 
give  you  a  chance  to  see  what  you  can  do." 
Forrester  was  not  wholly  taken  with  Green's 
personality,  but  the  man  certainly  seemed  to 
know  something  about  the  case,  and  the  fact 
that  he  already  had  theories  was  a  hopeful  sign. 
"  There's  the  notice,"  continued  Forrester, 
"  which  I  received  in  the  mail  this  morning. 
It  gives  me  until  Saturday  at  midnight  to  pay 
over  the  money  or  take  the  consequences.  Now, 
I'd  rather  present  you  with  the  ten  thousand 
dollars  than  give  up  to  these  people." 

Green  bounced  in  his  chair. 

"Do  you  mean  that?"  he  gasped. 

"  Certainly,"  answered  Forrester.  "  You 
bring  these  men  to  justice  and  the  ten  thousand 
is  yours.  In  the  meantime,  I'll  pay  you  your 
regular  fees  and  expenses." 

Green  ran  a  finger  around  inside  of  his  collar 
and  stared  at  Forrester  for  a  minute  or  two.  It 
was  quite  evident  that  he  was  thoroughly 
stunned  at  the  offer  which  had  just  been  made 
to  him.  Then,  realizing  that  he  was  making 
a  poor  showing  before  an  important  client,  he 


24  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

straightened  up  in  his  chair  and  assumed  the 
dignified  attitude  which  he  thought  in  keeping 
with  his  profession  and  the  handling  of  such 
a  momentous  case. 

"  Pm  glad  to  see  that  you  have  such  a  com- 
plete record  there,"  commented  Forrester. 
"  Pm  anxious  to  get  the  full  details  and  history 
of  this  affair." 

Green  laid  his  dead  cigar  on  the  edge  of  the 
desk  and  pulled  his  chair  closer,  clearing  his 
throat  as  he  did  so. 

"  The  case  o'  the  <  Friends  o'  the  Poor J," 
he  announced, "  first  became  known  to  the  public 
about  this  time  a  year  ago.  Here  we  have  the 
matter  o'  one  Frederick  Prentice."  Green 
picked  up  the  first  clipping. 

"  Yes,  I  know  all  about  that  case,"  inter- 
rupted Forrester.  "  Prentice  is  an  old  friend 
of  mine." 

"  Ah-h-h ! "  breathed  Green,  looking  much 
impressed  as  he  laid  the  clipping  and  a  few 
others  aside.  "  Maybe  you  knew  this  guy,  too 
—  Booth  Warren,  the  banker?" 

"  Yes,  I  knew  him  very  well,"  returned 
Forrester. 

"Ah-h-h!"  sighed  Green,  expressively. 
Never  before  had  he  floated  into  such  an  en- 
vironment of  millionaires. 


"FRIENDS    OF   THE   POOR"        25 

"  But,"  added  Forrester,  "  I  don't  know  the 
details  of  his  case.  In  fact,  I  had  not  heard 
of  his  death." 

Green  cleared  his  throat  once  more. 

"  Booth  Warren,"  he  explained,  referring  to 
his  notes  and  clippings,  "  was  vice-president  o' 
the  La  Salle  National  Bank.  In  July  o'  last 
year  this  criminal  organization  demanded 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  which  he  refused 
to  pay,  placin'  the  matter  in  the  hands  o'  the 
police."  At  this  mention  of  the  police  Green 
gave  Forrester  a  ponderous  wink.  Then  he 
continued,  "  After  ignorin'  three  notices,  War- 
ren was  found  by  the  roadside  one  mornin'  just 
beyond  Evanston.  The  police  surgeon  o'  the 
Evanston  Police  Department  could  find  no  signs 
o'  violence,  or  any  evidence  as  to  how  the  man 
had  been  killed.  He  said  he  would  diagnoose 
the  case  as  one  oj  —  "  Green  paused  a  moment 
over  the  pronunciation  of  the  word  — 
"  asphyxia." 

Green  thumbed  over  his  clippings. 

"  Then  followed  three  cases  where  the  guys 
lost  their  nerve  and  paid  up.  I  guess  you're 
chiefly  interested  in  the  guys  that  got  killed, 
though,"  added  Green,  turning  to  Forrester. 

"  Yes,  I  think  so,"  answered  Forrester.    "  I 


26  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

want  to  know  just  what  happens  to  a  man  who 
turns  these  people  down." 

"  Well,  he  gets  his  —  that's  all  I  can  say," 
replied  Green,  emphatically.  "That  is,"  he 
added,  realizing  his  slip,  "unless  he  comes 
to  me." 

"  Then  it  is  to  be  expected  that  I  shall  es- 
cape?" said  Forrester,  smiling. 

"  I  said  I  had  some  theories,  Mister,"  re- 
turned Green,  assuming  a  wise  expression.  "  I 
ain't  tellin'  all  I  know,  but  you  can  bet  your 
life  Pll  be  on  the  job  between  now  and  midnight 
Saturday. 

"  The  next  case  o'  a  death,"  Green  resumed, 
taking  up  another  clipping,  "  is  that  of  James 
Ingraham,  capitalist  and  director  of  the  Cook 
County  Trust  Company.  He  was  ordered  to 
pay  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  and  ignored  the 
demand  —  except  for  reportin*  it  as  usual  to 
the  police.  Ingraham  was  found  sittin'  under 
a  tree  in  Lincoln  Park  early  one  evenin',  and  the 
hospital  they  took  him  to,  and  where  he  died, 
reported  that  all  the  symptoms  showed  that  he 
had  been  —  asphyxiated. 

"  In  the  early  fall,  two  more  guys  was  threat- 
ened and  decided  to  pay  up. 

"  Now,"  concluded  Green,  closing  the  folder 


"FRIENDS   OF   THE   POOR"        27 

and  leaning  back  in  his  chair,  "  I  want  you  to 
notice  two  things  strikin'  me  as  funny.  These 
here  guys  apparently  knock  off  in  the  winter 
time.  Another  thing  is  that  the  poor  devils 
that  get  took  off  is  always  —  asphyxiated," 

"  But,"  protested  Forrester,  "  how  could  they 
be  asphyxiated  when  the  bodies  are  always 
found  out  in  the  open  air?  I  thought  that  a 
person  must  be  shut  up  in  a  closed  room  to  be 
asphyxiated." 

"Ah-ha!"  cried  Green.  "Now  youVe  got 
the  idea!  These  fellows  have  a  headquarters 
somewhere.  After  they  kill  a  guy  they  bring 
him  out  in  an  automobile  and  throw  him  along- 
side the  road  somewhere.  The  thing  to  be  done 
now  is  to  locate  their  headquarters.  That's 
what  little  Benny  is  goinj  to  do! " 

"How  do  you  propose  to  find  that  out?" 
inquired  Forrester. 

"Watch  the  tree  and  follow  Jem!"  replied 
Green,  decisively. 

"  That  sounds  all  right,"  objected  Forrester, 
"  but  the  police  have  been  watching  that  tree 
for  months  without  getting  sight  or  sound  of 
anyone." 

"  Leave  it  to  me"  assured  Green,  with  a 
wide  sweep  of  his  hand.  "  I  know  things  these 


28  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

here  city  dicks  never  think  about.  Now,  Mis- 
ter —  Mister  — ,  by  the  way,  you  ain't  told  me 
your  name  yet." 

Forrester  handed  his  card  to  Green. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Forrester,"  continued  Green,  as 
he  glanced  at  the  card,  "  take  my  advice  and 
don't  let  nobody  bunco  you  into  any  strange 
place.  And  I  wouldn't  take  no  rides  in  strange 
automobiles,  either.  I'll  let  you  hear  from  me 
in  a  couple  o'  days.  In  the  meantime  you  can 
count  on  findin'  me  around  that  tree  o'  nights. 
I  kinda  got  an  idea  that  there  tree's  a  mighty 
busy  place  these  nights.  The  l  Friends  o'  the 
Poor '  seem  to  be  makin'  a  big  drive  right  now. 
I  suppose  you  heard  about  the  banker,  Nevins, 
today?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Forrester,  rising  to  go.  "  I 
shall  probably  have  full  details  of  that  shortly. 
My  sister  is  engaged  to  Mr.  Nevins'  son." 

"  Ah-h-h ! "  sighed  Green  again,  as  his  new 
client  passed  out  of  the  door. 


CHAPTER   III 

ENGINEERING-CRIMINOLOGY 

A  LTHOUGH  the  yearly  hegira  from  town 
•^J^  to  suburb  was  well  on,  the  Forresters  had 
delayed  their  departure  and  were  still  residing 
in  the  town  house  on  Bellevue  Place.  To  a 
man  of  Forrester's  active  disposition  Bellevue 
Place  meant  a  comparatively  easy  walk  from  the 
downtown  section.  Moreover,  in  the  present 
troubled  condition  of  his  mind,  the  exercise 
would  be  conducive  to  clearer  thinking,  so  he 
started  out  with  the  intention  of  walking  home. 
As  he  was  crossing  the  Michigan  Avenue  bridge 
over  the  Chicago  River,  a  motor  car  slowed 
up  by  the  curb  and  Forrester  heard  someone 
call  to  him.  Glancing  around,  he  saw  that  it 
was  Prentice. 

"  On  your  way  home?"  inquired  Prentice. 

Forrester  answered  in  the  affirmative. 

"  Then  jump  in  with  me,"  said  Prentice. 

"  Thanks,"  returned  Forrester,  "  but  I  had 
decided  to  walk  home." 

29 


3o  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  Better  change  your  mind,"  urged  Prentice. 
"It's  a  fairly  long  walk,  and  I  should 
like  your  company.  Remember  that  after 
you  leave  me  I  have  a  long  and  lonesome 
drive." 

"  You  are  out  on  the  North  Shore  now,  are 
you?"  queried  Forrester,  as  he  climbed  into 
the  car. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Prentice.  "  We  closed 
the  town  house  on  the  first.  I'm  surprised  that 
your  folks  are  still  in  the  city." 

"  We  hope  to  leave  soon.  The  decorators 
are  still  busy  at  our  place.  We  gave  c  Wood- 
mere  '  a  good  overhauling  this  spring.  I  should 
think  you  would  rather  take  the  train  than  have 
such  a  long  drive  when  you  are  alone." 

"  I  very  seldom  use  the  train,"  explained 
Prentice.  "  You  know  that  time  is  of  no  great 
value  to  me,  and  I  enjoy  the  motor  ride.  The 
cool  lake  air  and  the  scent  of  the  woods  are 
really  very  refreshing  after  being  in  the  hot 
city  —  and  certainly  preferable  to  the  gas, 
smoke  and  cinders  that  are  inseparable  from 
the  train. 

"  By  the  way,"  continued  Prentice,  after  a 
pause,  "  have  you  done  anything  further  about 
that  message  we  were  discussing  today?" 


ENGINEERING-CRIMINOLOGY      3 1 

"  Yes,"  replied  Forrester.  "  I  have  taken 
very  definite  action  since  I  left  you." 

"  Drawn  the  money  from  the  bank,  I 
suppose." 

"I  certainly  did  not!"  declared  Forrester. 
"  I  went  first  to  the  police,  and  then  engaged 
a  private  detective  agency  to  look  into  the 
matter." 

"What  did  the  police  say?"  inquired 
Prentice. 

"  Oh,  I  guess  it  was  the  same  old  stuff," 
admitted  Forrester.  "  Although  they  did  say 
that  they  believed  they  had  a  clue  at  last." 

"  Well,  I  hope  it  is  a  better  clue  than  some  of 
the  others  they  have  pretended  to  discover.  It 
is  certainly  time  they  did  something.  And 
what  is  your  private  detective  going  to  do?" 

"  Not  very  much,  Pm  afraid,"  said  Forrester. 
"  He  proposes  to  keep  his  eye  on  this  mysterious 
oak,  which  I  believe  is  just  what  all  the  detec- 
tives have  done  so  far  without  results." 

"  Exactly,"  agreed  Prentice.  "  But  it  is  the 
first  time,  I  think,  that  anyone  has  employed  a 
private  detective.  Perhaps  he  will  be  more 
successful  than  the  police.  Well,  here  you 
are,"  he  added,  as  he  swung  the  car  to  the  curb 
and  stopped. 


32  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  Thank  you  for  the  lift,"  said  Forrester,  as 
he  stepped  out.  "  I'll  let  you  know  how  my 
private  detective  gets  on." 

"  Yes,  do,"  urged  Prentice.  "  I  should 
certainly  like  to  get  some  revenge  for  the  money 
those  people  took  from  me.  I  suppose  I  shall 
see  you  at  the  club  as  usual  tomorrow." 

"  No,"  returned  Forrester,  "  between  now 
and  Saturday  I  am  going  to  be  very  busy  on 
this  l  Friends  of  the  Poor '  matter.  I  don't 
intend  to  let  any  grass  grow  under  my  feet  in 
running  them  to  earth."  Then  he  added, 
laughing,  "  However,  after  Saturday  I  may 
have  to  hang  around  the  club  for  protection." 

"  If  I  can  be  of  any  help,  don't  fail  to  call 
upon  me,"  offered  Prentice.  "  Good-bye.  " 

"Good-bye!  "  called  Forrester,  as  the  car 
shot  off  up  the  drive. 

Forrester  was  glad  that  his  mother  and  sister 
were  not  at  home.  His  mind  was  concentrated 
on  the  peculiar  situation  in  which  he  now  found 
himself,  and  he  felt  little  inclination  to  talk. 
His  mother  certainly  would  have  noticed  his 
preoccupation  and  guessed  that  something  was 
wrong.  It  would  have  been  difficult  to  keep 
up  the  pretense  of  having  nothing  on  his  mind. 
At  this  time  he  did  not  intend  to  tell  his  family 


ENGINEERING-CRIMINOLOGY      33 

anything  about  the  warning  he  had  received, 
for  it  would  worry  them  unnecessarily,  es- 
pecially after  the  fate  which  had  overtaken 
Mr.  Nevins. 

After  dinner  Forrester  went  to  the  library, 
hunted  up  his  pipe  and  sat  down  to  think.  He 
had  just  settled  back  in  his  chair  when  he  heard 
the  door-bell,  and  a  minute  later  a  maid  an- 
nounced that  a  reporter  from  the  Times  wished 
to  see  him.  Forrester  hesitated  as  he  ran  the 
matter  over  in  his  mind.  He  disliked  public- 
ity and  this  call  certainly  meant  publicity.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  was  seeking  all  the  informa- 
tion and  help  which  he  could  get,  and  it  was  a 
well-known  fact  that  newspaper  reporters  fre- 
quently solved  mysteries  which  baffled  the  po- 
lice. Forrester  decided,  therefore,  that  he 
really  had  little  to  lose  and  perhaps  much  to 
gain  by  allowing  the  reporter  to  interview 
him,  so  he  instructed  the  maid  to  send  the 
man  in. 

The  young  man  entered  the  library  briskly, 
giving  a  quick  and  comprehensive  glance  around 
the  room  before  addressing  Forrester. 

"  Mr.  Forrester?"  he  inquired. 

"Yes,"  replied  Forrester,  affably.  "Take 
this  chair  and  make  yourself  at  home." 


34  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

As  the  young  man  sat  down,  Forrester  turned 
back  the  lid  of  a  humidor  and  pushed  it  along 
the  library  table. 

"Gee!"  said  the  young  man,  selecting  a 
cigar.  "  You  seem  glad  to  see  me.  I  don't 
always  get  a  greeting  like  this." 

"  Well,"  explained  Forrester,  smiling,  "  Pm 
in  deep  trouble  and  you,  as  a  newspaper  man, 
may  prove  to  be  a  friend  in  need." 

The  young  man  visibly  expanded  as  he 
remarked,  "  That's  right!  We  newspaper  men 
can  be  a  lot  of  help  sometimes.  If  there  is 
anything  I  can  do,  say  the  word.  My  name's 
Humphrey." 

"  Pm  very  glad  to  know  you,"  said  For- 
rester. "  Now,  may  I  inquire  how  you  hap- 
pened to  call  on  me?" 

"  Sure  thing,"  returned  Humphrey.  "  You 
see,  our  police  reporter  informed  us  that  you 
had  been  to  the  detective  bureau  today  —  that 
you  had  received  one  of  those  notices  from  the 
'  Friends  of  the  Poor.'  Owing  to  the  death  of 
a  prominent  man  like  Mr.  Nevins,  which  is 
attributed  to  these  people,  our  paper  is  going 
to  run  a  special  feature  article  tomorrow 
morning,  reviewing  the  whole  history  of  this 
affair.  Naturally,  we  want  to  know  all  the 


ENGINEERING-CRIMINOLOGY      35 

details  of  each  case,  and  what  every  one  con- 
nected with  it  has  to  say.  As  you  seem  to  be 
the  latest  victim,  we  are  interested  in  the  par- 
ticulars of  your  case,  and  your  personal  views 
regarding  it." 

"  I  am  afraid,"  declared  Forrester,  "  that  the 
details  of  one  case  correspond  very  closely  to 
those  of  any  other  case.  I  have  merely  re- 
ceived a  warning  to  put  ten  thousand  dollars 
in  a  certain  tree  by  midnight  Saturday  or  take 
the  consequences." 

"  You're  quite  right,"  agreed  Humphrey. 
"  The  method  in  each  case  is  the  same.  But 
the  outcome  is  not  always  the  same.  What  do 
you  propose  doing  in  the  matter?" 

"  Well,  for  one  thing,"  asserted  Forrester, 
"  /  do  not  intend,  to  'pay!" 

"That's  the  stuff!"  approved  Humphrey. 
"If  everyone  would  fight,  we'd  soon  put  those 
fellows  out  of  business.  But,"  he  added, 
leaning  confidentially  toward  Forrester,  "  how 
do  you  propose  to  fight  them?" 

"  That,"  said  Forrester,  "  is  a  question  I  have 
not  entirely  settled  as  yet.  As  you  know,  I 
went  to  the  detective  bureau  this  afternoon." 

"Poof!"  grunted  Humphrey,  leaning  back 
and  flicking  the  ashes  from  his  cigar. 


36  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  And  I  have  also  engaged  a  private  detec- 
tive," added  Forrester. 

"  Who?"  queried  Humphrey. 

"  A  man  named  Green  —  Benjamin  F. 
Green." 

"  There  are  detectives  —  and  there  are  de- 
tectives," commented  Humphrey.  "  Green 
falls  in  the  first  class." 

"  I  think  I  get  your  meaning,"  smiled  For- 
rester, "  and  I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  you. 
That,  in  fact,  is  the  great  problem  which  con- 
fronts me  now  —  how  to  get  a  good  detective 
at  work  on  the  case.  Any  suggestions,  Mr. 
Humphrey?" 

"  I'm  a  better  knocker  than  I  am  a  suggester," 
explained  Humphrey.  "  I  can  tell  you  the 
faults  of  detectives  as  easily  as  I  could  run  over 
my  A-B-C's.  I'll  admit,  though,  that  there 
are  some  good  ones.  Sooner  or  later  one  of 
them  will  get  on  this  case  and  solve  it.  I 
wouldn't  care  to  take  the  responsibility  of 
recommending  anyone." 

"  I  know  you  came  here  for  an  interview, 
Mr.  Humphrey,"  said  Forrester,  "  and  I  real- 
ize how  dangerous  it  is  to  tell  all  your  plans 
to  a  man  who  is  seeking  news.  But  on  the  other 
hand,  I  have  a  very  high  opinion  of  the  ability 


ENGINEERING-CRIMINOLOGY      37 

and  cleverness  of  newspaper  men.  That  is  why 
I  am  going  to  take  you  into  my  confidence." 

"  Pm  enjoying  it,"  assured  Humphrey,  se- 
lecting and  lighting  another  cigar. 

"  The  fact  is,"  announced  Forrester,  "  I  am 
thinking  of  becoming  a  detective  in  this  matter 
myself.  The  question  is,  can  I  do  it  —  have 
I  the  ability  to  be  a  detective?" 

"  Why  not?"  queried  Humphrey. 

"  Well,  what,  in  your  opinion,  makes  a  good 
detective?" 

"Brains!"  shot  back  Humphrey.  "Look 
here,  Mr.  Forrester.  As  a  reporter  I  can  scent 
the  biggest  story  ever  scooped  up  by  a  Chicago 
newspaper.  A  rich  man,  in  the  face  of  danger- 
ous threats,  turning  detective  and  running  down 
a  criminal  band  which  has  defied  the  best  efforts 
of  the  police  department.  All  I  ask  is  that 
you  give  me  the  dope  first!" 

"  Then  I  may  count  on  you  to  keep  my  plans 
quiet  and  give  me  a  certain  amount  of  assist- 
ance?" questioned  Forrester. 

"  You  bet ! "  exclaimed  Humphrey.  "  To 
tell  you  the  truth,  you've  actually  got  me  going. 
I  can  see  real  possibilities  to  the  idea.  Now, 
look  here,  Mr  Forrester  j  my  paper  assigned  the 
1  Friends  of  the  Poor  J  story  to  me  the  first  time 


38  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

the  matter  came  up.  They  have  kept  me  at  it 
since  because  I  was  familiar  with  the  details. 
I  don't  pretend  to  have  any  detective  instincts, 
but  just  my  share  of  common  sense,  and  I  have 
thought  the  whole  matter  over  pretty  carefully. 
The  police,  of  course,  would  laugh  at  any 
theories  from  me,  but  you,  perhaps,  might  like 
to  hear  my  ideas  on  the  subject." 

"  Go  ahead,"  urged  Forrester. 

"  In  my  opinion,"  Humphrey  explained, 
"  the  police  have  fallen  down  so  far  on  this 
case  because  they  are  sticking  too  close  to  the 
rules.  The  average  city  detective  becomes 
familiar  with  the  ways  of  the  average  thug-type 
of  criminal.  Give  him  an  ordinary  murder, 
burglary,  or  blackmailing  case  and  he  knows 
just  about  where  to  go  to  get  his  hands  on  the 
people  he  wants.  But  when  a  different  class 
of  criminal  begins  to  operate,  the  average  detec- 
tive cannot  see  the  new  conditions.  He  goes 
floundering  along  the  same  old  lines  and  lets 
real  clues  slip  through  his  fingers." 

Humphrey  paused  to  relight  his  cigar. 

"  Go  on,"  again  urged  Forrester.  "  I  am 
learning  something." 

"  Now,"  continued  Humphrey,  "  the  crooks 
that  compose  the  '  Friends  of  the  Poor '  have 


ENGINEERING-CRIMINOLOGY      39 

been  operating  for  about  one  year.  In  that 
time  they  have  received  various  sums  running 
from  ten  thousand  to  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars.  I  venture  to  say  that  in  one  year's 
time  they  have  taken  in  pretty  close  to  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars!  Now,  I  ask  you, 
Mr.  Forrester;  if  you  were  taking  in  that 
amount  of  money,  where  would  you  have  your 
nangout?  In  some  West  Side  saloon  or  tene- 
ment, or  in  a  high  class  neighborhood  —  perhaps 
even  in  some  fine  hotel?  Do  you  get  my 
thought,  Mr.  Forrester?" 

"  I  think  I  do,"  said  Forrester. 

"  All  right,  then,"  went  on  Humphrey.  "  I 
happen  to  know  what  the  police  are  doing  in 
this  matter.  They  are  dividing  their  time 
between  watching  an  old  oak  up  on  the  North 
Shore,  and  rummaging  around  West  Side  dives. 
Somewhere,  in  between,  our  men  sit  laughing 
at  them!" 

"  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  believe  you  are 
right,  Mr.  Humphrey,"  assented  Forrester. 
"  But  the  important  question  is :  How  are  we 
going  to  locate  that  place  which  lies  in 
between?" 

"  That's  where  you  come  in,"  maintained 
Humphrey.  "  That's  where  your  money,  social 


40  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

position,  training  and  brains  are  going  to  enable 
you  to  give  the  ordinary  detectives  the  go-by. 
When  you  mentioned  becoming  a  detective,  an 
idea  hit  me  with  an  awful  wallop.  Now,  Mr. 
Forrester,  you're  an  engineer." 

"How  did  you  know  that?"  queried 
Forrester. 

"  We  usually  look  up  a  man  before  we  inter- 
view him.  We  know  all  about  you." 

"  I  see,"  smiled  Forrester.  "  Well,  then, 
as  an  engineer  how  am  I  going  to  solve  this 
problem  in  crime?" 

"By  triangulation!"  exclaimed  Humphrey. 

Forrester  laughed.  "  Now  you  have  got  me 
guessing,  Mr.  Humphrey.  As  a  civil  engineer 
I  have  used  triangulation  in  my  surveying  work 
on  many  occasions,  but  how  I  can  apply  it  to  a 
criminal  problem  is  beyond  me." 

"  Well,"  explained  Humphrey,  "  the  first 
thing  to  do  in  a  criminal  case  is  to  take  a  good 
survey  of  the  problem  and  the  ground  it  covers 
—  just  as  you  do  when  you  build  a  bridge,  a 
dam,  or  open  up  a  mine.  The  higher  type  of 
criminal  investigator  usually  falls  back  upon  his 
study  and  knowledge  of  criminology,  which  is 
a  broader  and  more  scientific  development  of 
the  ordinary  facts  with  which  the  city  detective 


ENGINEERING-CRIMINOLOGY      41 

starts  to  work.  What  I  am  going  to  suggest 
to  you  is  a  new  branch  of  criminology.  For 
want  of  a  better  name  at  this  time  we'll  call  it 
Engineering-Criminology.  I  am  not  an  engi- 
neer myself,  and  what  I  know  about  surveying 
and  triangulation  could  be  put  into  a  thimble, 
but  I  think  I  know  enough  to  give  you  an  idea 
of  what  I  mean. 

"  As  I  said  before,  the  detectives  are  wallow- 
ing around  in  the  mire  of  the  lower  West  Side 
—  they  are  in  the  valley,  so  to  speak.  Now, 
if  you,  as  an  engineer,  were  about  to  survey  a 
certain  unknown  and  inaccessible  territory,  you'd 
go  up  on  the  nearest  high  hill  and  pick  out 
two  other  prominent  points  in  the  landscape, 
so  as  to  form  a  triangle.  Then  you'd  take 
sights,  or  whatever  you  would  call  it,  from  one 
point  to  another.  A  little  figuring  would  give 
you  the  exact  distance  from  one  point  to  another, 
and  a  lot  of  information  about  the  lay  of  the 
land  in  between.  Am  I  not  right?" 

"  You've  put  it  very  roughly,  but  I  think  I 
can  see  what  you  are  driving  at,"  returned 
Forrester. 

"  Continue  the  idea  a  little  further,  Mr. 
Forrester,"  went  on  Humphrey.  "  If  you  were 
making  a  mine  survey  you  would  first  lay  out 


42  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

your  boundaries,  tunnels  and  so  on,  on  the 
surface,  wouldn't  you?" 

Forrester  nodded. 

"  Then  you  would  carry  those  lines  below 
the  surface.  In  other  words,  the  lines  you  had 
laid  out  on  the  surface  would  be  a  guide  to  you 
when  you  got  below  it." 

Again  Forrester  nodded. 

"All  right,"  said  Humphrey.  "I  think 
you've  got  my  idea  about  this  case,  and  what  I 
mean  by  solving  it  by  triangulation.  You  will 
take  the  people,  and  the  events  which  have 
occurred,  and  use  them  as  your  prominent  land- 
marks; that  is,  points  for  your  triangles.  You 
will  then  study  what  lies  between  those  land- 
marks, and  also  what  lies  under  the  surface. 
By  that  means  I  think  you  will  eventually  dis- 
cover some  clues  that  will  be  worth  while. 

"For  example j  take  Mr.  Nevins,  who  was 
the  last  victim  of  the  '  Friends  of  the  Poor,'  as 
the  first  point  of  your  triangle.  Take  his  bank 
as  the  second,  and  his  home  as  the  third  point. 
Instead  of  measuring  the  distance  between  these 
points  by  feet  or  rods,  measure  it  by  people 
and  events.  Set  down,  just  as  you  would  the 
figures  of  a  survey,  the  names  of  his  friends 
and  acquaintances,  the  men  with  whom  he  has 


ENGINEERING-CRIMINOLOGY      43 

done  business,  and  any  little  out-of-the-way 
events  which  have  taken  place  in  his  life,  so  far 
as  you  can  ascertain  them.  Do  this  with  the 
other  people  who  have  been  concerned  in  the 
blackmailing  activities  of  this  band.  By  arrang- 
ing your  triangles  so  they  will  overlap  if 
possible,  you  will  get  at  a  starting  point. 
Somewhere  the  lines  will  cross,  and  at  the  point 
of  intersection  a  definite  clue  may  form." 

"  Mr.  Humphrey,"  laughed  Forrester,  "  you 
are  giving  me  a  manVsize  job." 

"  I  know  it ! "  admitted  Humphrey.  "  But 
the  man  who  solves  this  case  has  got  to  put  more 
than  ordinary  brains  and  ability  into  it.  You 
have  got  to  forget  the  old  rules  and  theories  and 
formulas.  That  is  why  the  experienced  detec- 
tives are  falling  down.  They  can't  forget  the 
rules!  When  you  suggested  a  while  ago  that 
you  thought  of  turning  detective,  I  immediately 
saw  its  possibilities.  Your  engineering  training 
has  taught  you  how  to  study  cause  and  effect, 
and  work  out  plans  for  meeting  unusual  con- 
ditions. You  start  with  a  mind  trained  to  solve 
difficult  problems,  but  at  the  same  time  your 
mind  is  free  of  all  the  traditions  of  the  detec- 
tive craft.  Things  they  wouldn't  notice,  or 
consider  important  if  they  did,  will  impress 


44  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

themselves  upon  you  and  start  a  train  of 
thought. 

"  Now  then,"  exclaimed  Humphrey,  jumping 
to  his  feet,  "  I  have  over-stayed  my  welcome 
and  I  must  get  back  to  the  office  and  write  up 
my  story  for  tomorrow's  paper.  You  can  rest 
assured,  however,  that  the  important  details  of 
this  conversation  will  not  get  into  print  until 
you  say  the  word.  But  remember,  when  the 
big  scoop  comes  —  it  belongs  to  me!" 

"  I  promise  you  that,"  returned  Forrester, 
rising  and  extending  his  hand.  "  We'll  shake 
hands  on  it." 

"  And  you  may  count  on  me  to  help  all  I 
can  in  the  meantime,"  declared  Humphrey,  as 
he  grasped  Forrester's  hand. 

"  Let  me  offer  you  a  suggestion  for  that 
article  which  is  to  appear  tomorrow,"  said 
Forrester. 

"Shoot!"  replied  Humphrey. 

"  Announce  that  I  have  given  up  all  idea  of 
fighting  the  '  Friends  of  the  Poor,'  and  say 
that  Saturday,  before  midnight,  I  shall  place  a 
package  containing  the  money  in  that  tree." 

"  I  get  you,"  smiled  Humphrey.  "  I'll  be 
there!" 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   CAR    IN    THE    FOG 

FORRESTER  glanced  at  his  watch.  It 
was  just  nine  o'clock,  not  too  late  to  make 
his  promised  call  on  the  Nevins. 

The  Nevins'  residence  was  on  Dearborn 
Parkway,  only  a  fifteen-minute  walk  for  For- 
rester, so  he  sauntered  west  after  leaving  the 
house.  A  heavy  mist  was  gathering  on  Lake 
Michigan  and  rolling  through  the  streets  before 
a  gentle  breeze  from  the  east,  completely  shut- 
ting from  view  all  but  the  nearest  street  lights 
and  any  pedestrians  who  might  be  abroad  at 
this  hour.  Always  a  quiet  neighborhood,  the 
mist-hidden  streets  now  seemed  somber  and 
deserted,  and  so  still  were  his  surroundings  that 
Forrester's  attention  was  presently  attracted  to 
the  soft  chug-chug  of  a  motor  somewhere  in 
the  fog  behind  him. 

When  the  sound  first  caught  his  ear  it  had 
made  little  impression,  but  as  the  purring  of 
the  engine  continued,  apparently  always  at  the 

45 


46  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

same  distance,  it  struck  him  as  peculiar  that  the 
car  did  not  catch  up  with  and  pass  him.  The 
threat  which  now  hung  over  his  head,  as  well 
as  his  recent  interviews  with  detectives  and  the 
reporter  from  the  Times,  had  made  Forrester 
more  alert  than  usual.  He  was  keenly  on  the 
watch  for  anything  that  might  appear  out  of 
the  ordinary  in  character.  Although  he  con- 
tinued at  the  same  pace  without  looking  back, 
Forrester  listened  attentively  to  the  sound  of 
the  motor  and  noted  instantly  that  as  he  turned 
north  on  Dearborn  Parkway,  the  motor  followed 
him.  He  was  convinced  that  he  was  under 
surveillance,  and  as  detectives  were  not  likely 
to  keep  guard  over  him  from  a  motor  car,  it 
was  clear  that  the  persons  who  followed  him 
had  some  other  motive. 

Forrester  was  well  aware  that  auto  bandits 
were  active  at  all  times  in  the  city  streets,  and 
it  was  more  than  likely  that  a  foggy  night  would 
prove  especially  inviting.  Still,  he  could  not 
recollect  ever  having  heard  of  a  hold-up  of  this 
character  in  his  immediate  neighborhood.  As 
he  deliberated  on  the  matter,  the  suspicion  grew 
stronger  that  the  car  which  now  followed  him 
through  the  fog  was  connected  in  some  way  with 
the  "  Friends  of  the  Poor."  If  that  were  so, 


THE    CAR    IN    THE    FOG        47 

there  seemed  little  risk  in  allowing  them  to 
follow  him,  for  it  was  certain  that  the  ten 
thousand  dollars  they  had  demanded  was  of 
more  importance  to  them  at  this  time  than  his 
life,  and  as  they  had  given  him  until  midnight 
Saturday  to  pay  the  money,  it  did  not  appear 
likely  that  they  would  harm  him  before  that 
time. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  realized  that  he  had 
been  especially  active  that  day  in  taking  steps 
to  thwart  them.  It  was  not  improbable  that 
an  organized  band  of  this  kind  would  have 
underground  methods  of  gaining  information 
and  therefore  might  be  familiar  with  every- 
thing he  had  done.  Forrester  recollected  with 
a  start  that  he  had  taken  Humphrey  for 
granted.  Might  it  not  be  possible  that  Hum- 
phrey had  merely  been  a  spy  sent  to  ascertain  his 
attitude?  As  he  recalled  the  young  man's 
discourse  it  seemed  strangely  fanciful  and  might 
have  been  planned  merely  to  add  to  his  per- 
plexities in  seeking  a  solution.  He  had  been 
extremely  frank  with  Humphrey,  and  the 
supposed  reporter  would  have  a  very  com- 
prehensive tale  to  unfold  to  his  associates. 
Informed  that  Forrester  planned  to  go  further 
in  his  fight  against  them  than  any  previous 


48  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

victim  they  had  selected,  was  it  not  possible 
that  they  had  decided  to  disregard  his  money, 
which  might  be  easily  replaced  by  a  demand 
upon  someone  else,  and  make  away  with  him 
before  he  had  an  opportunity  to  disrupt  their 
plans?  Forrester  admitted  to  himself  that  he 
felt  decidedly  nervous  and  quickened  his  pace. 
He  glanced  back  once  or  twice  and  saw  the 
blurred  but  unmistakable  outlines  of  a  motor 
car  without  lights.  Although  the  speed  of  the 
car  had  been  slightly  increased  when  he 
hastened  his  steps,  the  distance  between  them 
was  maintained,  and  Forrester's  mind  grew 
easier  as  he  became  convinced  that  the  sole 
purpose  of  the  car  behind  him  was  to  watch 
his  movements.  Very  probably,  he  reflected, 
the  "  Friends  of  the  Poor  "  kept  track  of  their 
victims  so  that  they  could  not  escape  by  leaving 
the  city  or  concealing  themselves  in  some  out- 
of-the-way  place.  Though  he  was  probably 
safe  for  the  moment,  Forrester  realized  more 
fully  now  the  dangerous  nature  of  the  task  he 
had  set  himself. 

By  the  time  Forrester  reached  the  Nevins 
home  and  rang  the  door-bell,  the  lesson  had 
had  its  effect.  He  had  acquired  part  of  the 
attributes  of  a  good  detective  —  caution,  and  a 


THE    CAR   IN    THE    FOG         49 

suspicion  of  everybody  and  everything.  In 
the  future,  so  he  assured  himself,  he  would  be 
more  guarded  in  his  conversation,  not  only  with 
new  acquaintances,  but  with  his  friends  as  well. 
At  this  moment  a  servant  opened  the  door  and 
Forrester  stepped  into  the  brilliantly  lighted 
hallway  with  a  feeling  of  relief. 

As  he  was  well  known  in  this  home  he  went 
immediately  to  the  library  without  being 
announced.  There  he  found  his  mother  and 
sister  with  the  Nevins  family.  Evidences  of 
grief  were  apparent  on  all  their  faces  and  after 
a  general  exchange  of  subdued  greetings,  young 
Nevins  led  Forrester  to  a  sofa  in  a  corner  and 
said,  "  I  suppose  you've  heard  about  Father, 
Bob?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Forrester,  "  and  Pm  mighty 
sorry,  old  man.  It  must  have  been  a  great 
blow." 

"  It  was  a  dreadful  shock  to  Mother.  You 
know  when  a  person  is  ill,  and  death  is  momen- 
tarily expected,  you  are  sort  of  prepared  for 
the  final  end,  but  when  you  find  your  father 
dead  on  the  front  steps,  and  you  know  that  he 
has  been  murdered,  it  is  an  awful  stroke." 

"If  you  don't  mind  talking  about  it,  Charlie, 
I  should  like  to  hear  some  of  the  details." 


50  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  I  don't  mind,  Bob.  The  fact  is,  that  is 
about  all  we  have  been  able  to  talk  about. 
There  is  very  little  to  tell,  however. 

"  It  seems  that  Father  received  a  notice  about 
two  weeks  ago  from  this  damnable  blackmailing 
society  which  calls  itself  the  c  Friends  of  the 
Poor.'  About  that  notice,  and  what  happened 
subsequently,  we  know  practically  nothing  out- 
side of  the  few  details  we  read  in  the  news- 
papers, and  a  little  that  the  police  were  willing 
to  tell  us.  Father  never  said  a  word  to  either 
Mother  or  myself  about  it.  I  believe  he  did 
not  even  tell  his  business  associates,  simply 
putting  the  matter  into  the  hands  of  the  police 
and  going  on  about  his  business  as  usual.  The 
Chief  of  Detectives  called  in  person  this  morn- 
ing, and  during  his  visit,  told  me  that  he  had 
offered  Father  a  police  guard,  but  that  Father 
refused  it. 

"  Last  night  Father  attended  a  dinner  of  the 
Midland  Bankers'  Association,  and  as  we 
naturally  did  not  expect  him  home  until  quite 
a  late  hour,  Mother  and  I  retired  at  our  usual 
time.  The  first  we  knew,  therefore,  that 
Father  had  not  been  home  all  night,  was  when 
we  missed  him  at  breakfast.  When  a  maid 
went  up  to  call  him  she  found  his  bedroom 


THE    CAR    IN    THE    FOG        51 

door  open  and  saw  that  the  bed  had  not  been 
occupied.  I  was  just  about  to  call  up  the  police 
when  the  patrolman  on  our  street  rang  the  door- 
bell and  asked  the  maid  who  answered  the  door 
if  she  knew  the  man  who  was  lying  on  our 
steps.  Of  course,  she  immediately  recognized 
Father,  and  when  we  heard  her  scream  we  all 
hurried  to  the  door.  The  patrolman  helped 
me  carry  him  in.  This  man  waited  until  the 
doctor  came,  as  he  said  he  would  have  to  make 
a  report  and  he  wanted  to  know  if  foul  play 
were  suspected 

"  Our  doctor  lives  just  across  the  street.  He 
was  here  in  five  minutes,  but  there  was  nothing 
that  he  could  do.  He  said  that  Father  had 
unquestionably  been  dead  for  many  hours." 

"  Could  he  tell  the  cause  of  death?"  inquired 
Forrester. 

"  Yes,"  returned  Kevins,  "  he  stated  that  it 
was  clearly  a  case  of  asphyxia.  Father,  of 
course,  had  been  murdered  by  the  same  method 
as  all  the  other  victims  of  the  l  Friends  of  the 
Poor.' " 

"  But,"  protested  Forrester,  "  how  could 
they  get  at  your  father?  It  was  my  impression 
that  he  always  went  about  in  his  car  with  a 
chauffeur  driving." 


52  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

"That  is  quite  right,"  answered  Nevins, 
"but  Fate  was  with  these  people  last  night. 
They  had  evidently  been  watching  for  just  such 
an  opportunity.  When  our  chauffeur  drove 
the  car  up  at  nine  o'clock  this  morning,  which 
was  his  custom,  to  take  Father  down  to  the 
bank,  I  called  him  in  and  questioned  him  about 
last  night. 

"  He  said  he  had  called  for  Father  at  eleven 
o'clock,  as  he  had  been  instructed  to  do,  and 
they  started  for  home.  Just  as  they  reached 
Oak  Street  something  went  wrong  with  the 
motor.  The  chauffeur  spent  a  half -hour  trying 
to  discover  the  trouble  and  he  says  that  Father 
grew  very  impatient.  Father,  it  seems,  tried 
to  get  a  taxicab,  but  all  the  cabs  that  passed  were 
going  north  and  had  people  in  them.  You 
know  it  is  not  much  of  a  walk  from  Oak  Street 
up  to  the  house,  and  the  chauffeur  said  that 
Father  finally  told  him  to  take  his  time  in  fix- 
ing the  car  and  he  would  walk  home.  The 
chauffeur  saw  him  start  off  up  the  Lake  Shore 
Drive  and  that  was  the  last  anyone  saw  or  heard 
of  Father  until  he  was  found  on  our  steps  this 
morning." 

Forrester's  thoughts  reverted  to  the  car  which 
had  followed  him  through  the  fog.  There  was 


THE    CAR    IN    THE    FOG         53 

little  doubt  in  his  mind  that  this  same  car  had 
followed  the  elder  Nevins,  waiting  for  the 
opportunity  to  strike.  Forrester  did  not  ques- 
tion that  the  banker's  murderers  were  in  that 
car  now.  At  this  very  moment  they  might  be 
waiting  outside  for  Forrester  to  reappear.  It 
flashed  through  his  mind  what  a  simple  matter 
it  would  be  for  him  to  notify  the  police  and 
have  them  ready  when  he  started  out. 

"  Mother,"  said  Forrester, "  how  soon  do  you 
expect  to  go  home?" 

"  I  suppose  we  could  leave  at  any  time  now, 
Son,"  replied  Mrs.  Forrester. 

"  How  did  you  plan  to  go  home?  I  did  not 
see  the  car  outside  when  I  came  in." 

"  No,"  explained  Mrs.  Forrester,  "  it  was 
such  a  pleasant  evening  that  I  told  William  he 
need  not  return.  After  the  excitement  and 
worry  we  have  been  through  I  thought  it  would 
be  good  for  us  to  walk  home." 

"It  is  not  at  all  nice  out  now,"  said  For- 
rester. "  A  heavy  fog  has  come  up.  I  think 
I  would  better  call  a  taxicab." 

Forrester  went  to  the  telephone  and  ordered 
a  taxicab.  Then  he  whispered  to  Nevins, 
"  May  I  use  a  phone  upstairs  where  I  can  talk 
without  being  overheard?" 


54  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  Yes,"  informed  Nevins,  "  you  will  find  a 
phone  in  Father's  room." 

Forrester  went  upstairs  and  called  police 
headquarters.  He  briefly  explained  who  he 
was,  what  had  occurred  on  his  walk  over,  and 
suggested  that  they  watch  for  the  strange  car 
as  he  returned  home. 

"  Leave  the  house  in  exactly  fifteen  minutes," 
instructed  the  man  at  headquarters,  "  and  we'll 
be  ready  for  you." 

After  returning  to  the  library  Forrester  took 
an  occasional  surreptitious  look  at  his  watch  and 
was  pleased  to  hear  the  taxi  driver  ring  the 
door-bell  just  as  the  fifteen  minutes  expired. 

As  Forrester  assisted  his  mother  down  the 
steps  he  glanced  hastily  around.  The  fog  was 
still  heavy.  He  could  make  out  nothing  save 
the  taxicab  at  the  curb,  but  just  as  he  was  giving 
the  address  to  the  taxi  driver  he  noticed  a  small 
man  of  slight  build  appear  out  of  the  fog. 
This  man  stopped  quite  near  to  him  and  lit  a 
cigarette.  Aside  from  noting  the  man's  build 
and  the  fact  that  he  wore  a  cap  and  had  very 
dark  hair,  Forrester  could  make  out  no  other 
details,  for  the  man  stood  with  his  back  to 
Forrester  and  the  lighted  match  really  served 
only  to  throw  him  out  in  silhouette.  Forrester 


THE    CAR    IN    THE    FOG         55 

entered  the  cab  and  it  started  off.  As  he 
leaned  back  he  reflected  that  the  man  he  had 
seen  was  of  too  small  a  stature  to  be  a  detec- 
tive. His  act  of  stopping  so  close  to  them 
might  have  been  mere  accident,  but  to  Forrester 
the  thing  had  a  significance  which  could  not  be 
overlooked.  He  was  confident  that  this  was 
one  of  the  men  they  wanted.  He  hoped  that 
the  police,  although  not  visible  in  the  fog,  had 
arrived'  as  promised.  If  so,  he  felt  that  their 
problems  were  pretty  close  to  a  final  solution. 

They  reached  Bellevue  Place  without  inci- 
dent. The  whir  of  the  taxicab's  engine  had 
effectually  drowned  any  sound  of  pursuit  and 
though  he  had  glanced  back  several  times,  For- 
rester had  been  able  to  see  nothing  save  a  wall 
of  fog  back  of  the  cab.  Yet  somewhere  in  that 
fog-draped  street  he  was  sure  the  murderers'  car 
was  lurking. 

There  appeared  to  be  no  one  around  as  they 
left  the  cab,  but  Forrester,  after  his  mother  and 
sister  had  gone  into  the  house,  lingered  for  a 
moment  in  the  dark  doorway.  He  could  hear 
the  hum  of  the  taxicab's  engine  as  it  passed 
down  the  street  toward  the  Lake  Shore  Drive. 
Otherwise  the  night  was  silent. 

Suddenly  Forrester  heard  the  roar  of  opened 


56  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

mufflers  in  the  other  direction,  and  the  next 
instant  two  black  shapes  passed  swiftly  by 
through  the  fog.  Red  flashes  leaped  out  of 
the  darkness  and  sharp  reports  resounded 
through  the  street  as  they  passed  the  door. 

"The  police  are  on  the  job!"  exulted 
Forrester. 

He  hastily  stepped  inside  and  closed  the  door, 
for  his  army  experience  had  shown  him  the 
danger  of  stray  bullets. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    HAUNTED   TREE 

TWICE  before  he  retired  that  night 
Forrester  sought  information  from  the 
police.  By  one  o'clock,  however,  when  no  re- 
port had  been  turned  in,  he  decided  to  wait 
until  morning. 

Early  Wednesday  morning  he  called  the 
detective  bureau  on  the  telephone  to  find  out 
what  the  police  had  accomplished.  The  voice 
at  the  other  end  of  the  wire  was  apologetic. 

"  We're  sorry,  Mr.  Forrester,  but  the  men 
got  away  from  us.  Had  it  been  any  other  kind 
of  a  night  we  would  have  had  them,  sure.  The 
fog  prevented  the  detectives  from  seeing  the 
car  distinctly,  so  that  after  it  turned  into  the 
Lake  Shore  Drive,  and  mingled  with  other 
cars,  it  was  impossible  to  pick  it  up  again. 

"  Our  men  were  sure  that  their  bullets  struck 
the  car.  After  giving  up  the  chase  they  spent 
half  the  night  on  the  West  Side  trying  to  locate 
an  automobile  with  bullet  holes,  but  were  un- 
successful." 

57 


58  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

"  Then  you  have  made  no  progress  at  all  on 
the  case,"  said  Forrester. 

"No,  I  wouldn't  say  that,"  was  the  reply. 
"  We  now  have  some  fairly  definite  people  to 
look  for.  Before  the  incident  of  last  night  the 
whole  thing  was  a  mystery  that  did  not  present 
a  single  tangible  point  on  which  to  base  our 
investigations.  Now,  we  believe  that  these 
people  are  just  an  ordinary  auto  bandit  gang, 
and  we  know  how  to  take  steps  to  look  them 
up." 

"If  anything  of  a  hopeful  nature  occurs," 
requested  Forrester,  "  I  will  appreciate  it  if 
you  will  call  me  on  the  telephone  and  let  me 
know  about  it." 

"  We  will  be  glad  to  do  that,"  agreed  the 
man  at  headquarters.  "  You  may  expect  to 
hear  from  us  at  any  time.  And  in  the  mean- 
while, we  will  also  appreciate  any  further 
tips  similar  to  the  one  you  gave  us  last 
night." 

Forrester  then  called  the  garage  and  ordered 
his  roadster  sent  around  to  the  house. 

Although  the  police  seemed  to  be  trying,  and 
were  under  the  impression  that  they  were 
making  some  progress,  Forrester  decided  to 
make  a  few  efforts  on  his  own  account  as  he  had 


THE   HAUNTED   TREE  59 

originally  planned.  Even  if  he  did  not  get 
very  far  in  his  investigations,  he  at  least  might 
discover  something  that  would  be  of  assistance 
to  the  police.  He  had  little  faith  in  Green,  yet 
he  realized  that  with  this  private  detective,  tl^e 
police,  and  himself  all  working  along  individual 
lines,  it  was  possible  that  the  sum  of  all  their 
discoveries  might  convey  some  hint  of  the  lines 
that  must  be  followed  to  bring  the  criminals 
to  justice. 

Forrester  was  not  much  impressed  with 
Humphrey's  triangulation  theory.  It  was  too 
far  fetched  and  fanciful.  Moreover,  he  real- 
ized that  before  putting  even  this  surveying 
method  into  actual  practice,  he  must  first  look 
over  all  the  ground  carefully.  At  the  present 
moment,  the  only  prominent  and  definite  land- 
mark in  the  case  was  the  oak  tree.  He  knew 
that  this  had  already  been  the  starting  point 
for  all  the  detectives  who  had  been  conducting 
investigations,  but  it  was  possible  that  because 
of  his  freedom  from  traditions,  as  Humphrey 
had  put  it,  he  might  discover  something  which 
the  more  experienced  detectives  had  overlooked. 
As  soon  as  his  roadster  arrived,  therefore, 
he  planned  to  visit  the  oak  tree  in  Jasper 
lane. 


60  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

This  analyzing  of  Humphrey's  suggestions 
recalled  to  Forrester  his  suspicions  of  the  night 
before.  He  decided,  before  going  further,  to 
make  sure  of  Humphrey,  so  he  got  the  Times 
office  on  the  wire  and  inquired  for  the  reporter. 
He  recognized  the  young  man's  voice  im- 
mediately and  it  lifted  a  considerable  load  from 
his  mind. 

"  This  is  Forrester,"  he  told  Humphrey. 
"  I  called  up  to  see  if  you  had  any  new  informa- 
tion for  me." 

"Oh,  hello!"  called  Humphrey.  "No,  I 
haven't  any  new  tips  —  but  say  —  did  you  see 
my  article  this  morning?" 

"  No,"  admitted  Forrester,  "  I  haven't  had 
time  to  look  at  the  paper." 

"Don't  miss  it!"  cried  Humphrey.  "I'll 
bet  I've  killed  any  idea  those  fellows  might 
have  had  that  you  would  put  up  a  fight." 

"  What  did  you  say?"  queried  Forrester. 

"  Why,  I  described  how  I  called  on  you  last 
night,  and  stated  that  I  found  you  in  a  blue 
funk.  Without  actually  saying  so,  I  intimated 
that  the  cold  sweat  was  standing  out  in  beads 
on  your  forehead  and  thrills  of  fear  running 
up  and  down  your  spine." 

"  I'm  afraid,"  laughed  Forrester,  "  that  you 


THE   HAUNTED    TREE  61 

have  given  my  friends  an  idea  that  I  hid  in  a 
dugout  all  through  the  war." 

"  Not  on  your  life !  "  protested  Humphrey. 
"  You  just  read  that  article.  You'll  find  that 
I'm  an  artist  when  it  comes  to  descriptive 
writing." 

"  All  right,"  agreed  Forrester,  "  I'll  read  it 
tonight.  Pm  starting  out  now  to  have  a  look 
at  that  oak  tree." 

"Good  luck!"  said  Humphrey.  "Let  me 
know  if  you  spot  anything.  I've  got  to  break 
away  now.  The  Chief's  shouting.  Good- 
bye! " 

The  most  direct  route  to  follow  in  starting 
out  for  the  North  Shore  would  have  been  to 
go  straight  up  the  Lake  Shore  Drive  and  Sheri- 
dan Road.  Forrester,  however,  had  become 
cautious  since  his  experience  of  the  night  before. 
He  turned  his  car  west  and  followed  less  used 
thoroughfares  as  far  as  Devon  Avenue,  glanc- 
ing back  from  time  to  time.  The  few  cars 
which  he  saw  at  these  times  all  turned  off  at 
various  streets  before  he  reached  Devon  Ave- 
nue. Forrester,  confident  that  he  was  not  fol- 
lowed, swung  east  on  Devon  Avenue  and  soon 
turned  into  the  north  bound  traffic  on  Sheridan 
Road. 


62  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

Twice  before  reaching  Jasper  lane  he  stopped 
his  car  at  the  side  of  the  road  and  pretended 
to  adjust  his  engine.  What  he  really  did, 
however,  was  to  carefully  inspect  the  cars  which 
passed  him  so  that  if  he  met  any  of  them 
again  they  would  be  easily  recognized.  But 
when  he  turned  into  Jasper  lane  it  was  quite 
evident  that  no  one  had  followed  or  paid  any 
attention  to  him. 

The  surrounding  country  appeared  lonely 
and  deserted  at  the  point  where  Jasper  lane 
branched  off  from  Sheridan  Road.  In  this 
locality  there  were  only  large  estates  and  vacant 
tracts  of  land,  all  heavily  wooded.  Jasper 
lane,  which  sloped  slightly  upward  as  it  left 
Sheridan  Road,  was  an  unfrequented  byway 
sometimes  used  as  a  short  cut  to  a  few  large 
estates  that  lay  along  a  prominent  road  farther 
to  the  west. 

Forrester  figured  that  two  hundred  feet 
would  bring  him  to  the  crest  of -the  rise  before 
him  and  he  kept  his  eyes  on  the  left  side  of  the 
road  as  he  drove  slowly  along.  He  did  not 
need  any  special  guide  to  locate  the  oak  tree, 
however,  for  its  gigantic  form  towered  above 
all  the  other  trees  in  the  neighborhood.  He 
turned  his  car  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  road, 


THE    HAUNTED    TREE  63 

stopped  his  engine,  and  inspected  the  tree. 
The  trunk,  which  was  fully  six  feet  in  diame- 
ter, rose  to  a  height  of  about  fifteen  feet,  at 
which  point  it  branched  into  two  parts.  For- 
rester's engineering  mind  took  in  this  detail 
at  once  and  it  occurred  to  him  that  the  space 
thus  formed  would  make  a  roomy  and  com- 
fortable perch  from  which  to  keep  a  watch  over 
anything  that  might  take  place  at  the  tree.  lie 
surmised  that  the  detectives  who  had  previously 
watched  the  tree  had  merely  concealed  them- 
selves in  the  surrounding  undergrowth  where 
clever  people,  familiar  with  the  locality,  might 
have  been  able  to  espy  and  avoid  them  in  ap- 
proaching the  tree.  If  at  any  time  he  decided 
to  do  a  little  watching  on  his  own  account,  For- 
rester concluded  that  this  was  the  point  of 
vantage  which  he  would  occupy. 

Forrester  now  jumped  down  from  his  car 
and  strode  across  the  road  to  take  a  closer  view 
of  the  tree  and  its  surroundings.  The  tree 
stood  back  from  the  road  a  few  feet,  and  an 
open  grass-covered  space  surrounded  it  for  a 
distance  of  about  ten  feet.  Beyond  this  clear 
space  were  thick  undergrowth  and  young  sap- 
lings, and  a  little  farther  back  the  woods  began. 
From  the  road  to  the  tree  was  a  well-defined 


64  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

pathway.  As  Forrester  approached  the  tree 
he  found  that  this  pathway  wound  around  it 
and  led  off  toward  the  right  through  the  thick 
woods. 

The  opening  referred  to  in  the  demand  he 
had  received  was  noticeable  at  once  —  a  hole 
about  a  foot  high  by  six  or  eight  inches  across. 
It  had  probably  been  caused  by  some  fungus 
growth  or  insects  eating  into  the  tree  and 
gradually  rotting  away  part  of  the  wood.  The 
opening  was  about  four  feet  from  the  ground 
and  Forrester  had  to  stoop  slightly  to  put  his 
arm  into  it.  The  space  inside  was  compara- 
tively small.  Forrester  was  under  the  im- 
pression that  oak  trees  were  seldom,  if  ever, 
affected  in  this  way,  but  as  he  felt  around,  dig- 
ging his  fingers  into  the  rotting  wood,  there 
seemed  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  opening 
was  other  than  a  natural  one.  While  his  arm 
was  still  inside  the  tree,  Forrester  was  startled 
to  hear  a  voice  close  behind  him,  for  he  had  not 
heard  anyone  approach. 

"What  yo'all  doin'  dere?" 

Forrester  withdrew  his  hand  and  turned 
swiftly  to  find  himself  facing  a  coal  black  negro. 
Though  Forrester  was  himself  a  tall  man  he 
found  that  he  had  to  slightly  raise  his  eyes  to 


THE   HAUNTED   TREE  65 

look  into  those  of  the  man  before  him.  They 
looked  each  other  over  for  a  moment  and  then 
the  negro  repeated  his  question. 

"  What  yo'all  doin'?  " 

"  I  don't  know  that  that's  any  of  your 
business,"  said  Forrester. 

"  Dat's  all  right,  Boss.  Ah  don't  mean  no 
offense.  Dat  tree  done  have  a  bad  name,  an' 
us  folks  aroun'  yere  has  begun  to  kinda  keep 
our  eyes  open." 

"  Well,"  inquired  Forrester,  "  what  do  you 
think  I'm  doing  at  the  tree?" 

"  Ah  dunno,  Boss.  Dat's  what  Ah'm  tryin' 
to  fine  out." 

There  was  a  slight  pause  as  the  two  men  again 
looked  each  other  over.  To  Forrester,  the 
negro,  in  spite  of  his  size,  appeared  to  be  really 
a  harmless  individual.  Possibly  he  was  a 
gardener  in  the  vicinity.  The  negro  on  his 
part  could  see  that  Forrester  was  a  gentleman, 
and  therefore  hardly  likely  to  be  one  of  the 
supposed  blackmailing  gang  who  had  made  this 
tree  famous  for  miles  around.  His  changed 
attitude  was  clearly  apparent  in  the  manner  in 
which  he  next  addressed  Forrester. 

"  Yo'  mus'  scuse  me,  suh,  f  o'  buttin'  in  on 
yo'  disaway,  but  mah  Missey  done  tole  me  to 


66  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

watch  eberybody  dat  hung  aroun'  dis  yere  tree. 
Ah  only  been  doin'  mah  duty,  suh." 

Forrester  accepted  this  apology  in  the  spirit 
in  which  it  was  tendered,  and  assumed  a  more 
tolerant  attitude  toward  the  negro. 

"You  live  around  here,  do  you?"  he 
inquired. 

"  Yas,  suh.  Jes'  a  little  way  up  de  road  on 
de  oder  side." 

"  Gardener,  I  suppose,"  suggested  Forrester. 

"  Yas,  suh.  Dat  anj  some  mo.'  Mah  wife, 
Marthy,  an'  me  done  be  caretakahs  fo'  ole 
Mistah  Bradbury.  His  house  is  jes'  up  de  road 
aways.  Him  an'  his  wife  done  be  liben  in 
Califo'ny,  suh." 

"Well,  arn't  you  and  your  wife  afraid  to 
live  alone  out  in  the  woods,  with  bad  men  all 
around?"  asked  Forrester,  with  mock  gravity. 

"  Yas,  suh.  We  done  be  mighty  afeared 
sometimes.  But  we  ain't  alone  no  mo'. " 

"  I  thought  you  said  your  folks  were  in 
California?" 

"  Yas,  suh,  Ah  done  say  dat.  But  we  done 
got  a  young  lady  liben  dere  now,  Boss.  She 
ain't  been  dere  long,  suh  —  only  since  las' 
Sato'day.  She's  a  mighty  fine  young  lady, 
Boss,  an'  Ah's  skeered  dis  yere  tree  am  goin' 


THE    HAUNTED    TREE  67 

to  dribe  her  away.  She  done  seem  jes' 
f  as'nated  wif  dis  tree  —  hangin'  aroun'  all  de 
time,  Boss." 

"  Well ! "  murmured  Forrester,  thoughtfully 
It  was  strange  that  a  young  woman  should  take 
such  an  interest  in  this  tree,  associated  as  it 
was  with  mystery,  menace  and  the  blood  of 
victims.  "  You'd  better  look  out  for  her,"  he 
added.  "  Some  of  these  bad  men  may  get 
her." 

"  Say,  Boss,  what  yo'  mean  bad  men?" 

Forrester  looked  his  surprise. 

"  Why,"  he  explained,  "  the  bad  men  who 
make  people  put  money  in  this  tree  and  then 
come  and  get  it  out." 

" Dat  ain't  no  men,  Boss!" 

"No  men!"  repeated  Forrester. 

"No,  Boss.     Jes'  hants!" 

"What  nonsense  are  you  talking  now?" 
queried  Forrester. 

"  Dat  ain't  no  nonsense,  suh.  Dere  ain't 
nobody  aroun'  yere,  'ceptin'  maybe  dat  bad 
niggah  woman  dat  libes  back  in  dem  woods, 
dat  would  go  neah  dis  tree  in  de  night  time." 

This  was  growing  interesting,  decided  For- 
rester. He  could  not  remember  having  heard 
Prentice,  the  detectives,  or  anyone,  refer  to 


68  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

these  uncanny  surroundings.  Possibly  they  had 
heard  of  them,  but  had  scoffed  at  the  idea. 
Perhaps,  then,  that  had  been  one  of  the  reasons 
why  so  little  progress  had  been  made.  For- 
rester meant  to  get  at  the  bottom  of  all  this 
talk. 

"What  is  your  name?"  he  inquired. 

"  Joshua,  suh." 

"  That's  a  good  Bible  name,"  commented 
Forrester.  "  I  fancy  a  man  with  a  name  like 
that  ought  to  tell  the  truth." 

"  Ah  does,  Boss;  hones'  Ah  does,"  protested 
Joshua.  "  Ah  belibes  in  de  Lawd  an'  goes  to 
church  reg'lar.  But  de  Lawd,  he  can't  always 
stop  de  debil  puttin'  hants  in  t'ings." 

"  You  really  think  this  tree  is  haunted,  do 
you,  Joshua?" 

"  Hones',  Boss.  Dat's  de  whole  truf  an' 
nuffin  but  de  truf." 

"  Tell  me  what  makes  you  think  the  tree  is 
haunted,"  requested  Forrester. 

"  Done  make  me  hab  de  shibers  ebery  time 
Ah  talk  'bout  dat,  Boss.  Yo'  see,  dere's  a  bad 
Jamaica  niggah  woman  libes  back  in  dem  woods. 
She  an'  her  husband  done  come  yere  'bout  two 
yahs  ago.  Dis  yere  tree  all  right  den,  but  she 
done  murdah  her  husban'  one  night." 


THE    HAUNTED   TREE  69 

"If  she  murdered  her  husband,"  said  For- 
rester, "  how  is  it  she  is  living  here  now?  Why 
wasn't  she  hung  or  put  in  jail?" 

"  De  trouble  was,  Boss,  dere  wasn't  no 
ebidence ! " 

"  Then  how  do  you  know  she  murdered 
her  husband?" 

"  Jes'  a  minute,  Boss,  jesj  a  minute!  Yo' 
done  got  me  all  frustrated.  Yo'  done  axe  so 
many  questions  —  an'  axe  dem  so  fas.'  " 

"  All  right,  Joshua,"  laughed  Forrester. 
"  You  tell  the  story  your  own  way." 

"  As  Ah  was  sayin',  Boss,  she  done  murdah 
her  husban.'  Nobody  done  see  her  do  it,  an' 
de  polisman  dat  wen'  huntin'  roun'  nebber  f  oun' 
nuthin'.  She  said  her  husban'  jes'  run  away. 
But  we-all  knows  she  done  kill  him,  'cause  eber 
since  he  been  missin'  he  done  hant  dat  tree." 

There  was  a  slight  pause  as  Joshua  collected 
his  wits.  After  the  previous  warning  For- 
rester remained  silent  until  the  colored  man  was 
ready  to  go  on  with  his  story. 

"  One  Sunday  night,  mah  wife  an'  me  come 
by  yere  on  our  way  from  church.  An  awful 
still  night,  Boss,  an'  ter'ble  dark.  When  we 
got  jes'  yere,  we  heered  a  noise  —  click,  click, 
click —  jes'  like  dat.  Den  we  heered  cuss 


70  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

words  —  blasphemin'  de  Lawd  somet'ing  ter'- 
ble.  Den  we  heered  mo*  click,  click.  An' 
after  dat  —  sighs.  We  don't  wait  to  heah  no 
mo',  Boss.  We  jes'  runned  home  an'  got  our 
heads  under  de  cobers  —  quick!  Marthy's 
awful  fat,  Boss,  but  mah  goodness,  how  dat 
woman  can  run! 

"Nex'  mo'nin'  Ah  says  to  Marthy:  What 
yo'all  t'ink  dat  was  we  heered  las'  night? 

" £  Joshua,'  she  says,  '  don't  you  know  what 
dat  was?  Dat  was  dat  Jamaica  niggah  woman's 
husban'  diggin'  his  own  grave!  Dey  such 
bad  peopull  de  Lawd  done  sen'  him  away  an' 
he  had  to  come  back  yere  an'  dig  a  hole  for 
hisself.' 

"  Eber  since  den,  Boss,  folks  has  heered 
funny  t'ings  aroun'  dat  tree.  Sighin's,  an'  chain 
rattlin's,  an  groans.  An'  some  folks  say  dey 
done  seen  funny  lights  floatin'  roun'.  Tain't 
no  men  gettin'  dat  money,  Boss  —  no  suh. 
It's  de  hant  of  dat  Jamaica  niggah  woman's 
man  gettin'  money  to  gib  to  de  debil!  Boss, 
dere's  lots  of  polismen  done  come  from  de  city 
an'  watch  dat  tree.  Dey  neber  seen  or  heered 
nuthin'  —  but  in  de  mo'nin'  de  money  was 
gone!  Dat  means  hants  sure,  Boss." 

Forrester    stood    for    a    moment,    gazing 


THE    HAUNTED    TREE  71 

thoughtfully  across  the  roadway.  He  was 
sure  that  he  had  unearthed  something  worth 
while  by  allowing  this  colored  man  to  talk. 
Whether  the  man  actually  believed  what  he  had 
told  Forrester,  or  was  just  repeating  a  pre- 
arranged story,  which  someone  had  instructed 
him  to  tell,  Forrester  could  not  now  determine. 
One  thing  was  certain,  however.  Several  singu- 
lar and  suspicious  people  did  live  near  this  tree. 
He  made  up  his  mind  to  investigate  the  colored 
woman  who  was  reported  to  be  living  back  in 
the  woods,  and  also,  at  the  first  opportunity, 
to  secure  information  regarding  the  young 
woman  who  was  taking  such  an  interest  in  the 
tree. 

"  Joshua,"  said  Forrester,  suddenly,  "  have 
you  told  this  story  to  the  young  lady  who  is 
now  living  at  your  house?" 

"  Yas,  Boss,  Ah  shuah  did.  De  fus'  time 
Ah  f  oun'  her  at  dis  yere  tree  Ah  done  tole  her 
all  'bout  it,  an'  wahned  her  to  keep  away.  She 
jes'  laughed  at  me,  Boss,  an'  said  dere  wasn't 
no  such  t'ings  as  hants.  Why,  Boss,  dat  young 
lady  done  been  comin'  down  to  dis  yere  tree 
ebery  night  since  Sunday!  She  come  all  alone 
—  by  herself  —  in  de  dark!  Ah  know,  Boss, 
'cause  Ah  done  follow  her.  Ah  got  to  keep 


72  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

mah  eyes  on  dat  young  Missey.  Ah  got  to 
take  keer  of  her,  Boss." 

Forrester  glanced  at  his  watch.  It  was  after 
one  o'clock  and  he  decided  to  return  to  the  city 
and  think  the  situation  over  carefully  before  he 
undertook  any  further  steps.  Taking  a  coin 
from  his  pocket,  he  handed  it  to  Joshua. 

"  You're  a  good  story  teller,  Joshua,"  de- 
clared Forrester.  "  Here's  a  little  present  for 
you.  I'm  coming  up  to  see  you  again  sometime. 
Perhaps  I'll  drop  over  to  your  house  to  see 
you." 

"  T'anks,  Boss,  t'anks,"  exclaimed  Joshua, 
pocketing  the  coin,  and  Forrester  left  him  bow- 
ing and  scraping  as  he  went  to  his  car  and  started 
back  to  the  city. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE    FLAMING    HAND 

AS  GREEN  had  told  Forrester,  he  had 
some  theories  of  his  own  about  the  people 
who  called  themselves  the  "  Friends  of  the 
Poor."  Like  Humphrey,  he  did  not  believe 
that  the  West  Side  held  any  clues.  He  was 
more  inclined  to  believe  that  the  guilty  people 
could  be  located  within  a  comparatively  short 
distance  of  the  tree  in  which  the  victims  were 
ordered  to  leave  their  money. 

This  theory  of  Green's,  however,  had  de- 
veloped solely  from  the  fact  that  all  activities 
of  the  band  had  ceased  as  soon  as  the  ground 
was  covered  with  snow.  With  snow  on  the 
ground,  according  to  his  hypothesis,  it  would  be 
a  comparatively  easy  matter  to  follow  any  tracks 
from  the  tree —  at  least  for  some  distance. 
If  similar  tracks  could  be  discovered  near  any 
house  or  houses  in  the  neighborhood,  a  smart 
detective  would  have  an  excellent  clue.  On  the 
other  hand,  Green  conjectured  that  if  a  West 
Side  gang  were  involved  they  would  logically 

73 


74  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

visit  the  tree  in  an  automobile,  and  therefore 
have  little  fear  of  giving  the  detectives  a  clue 
from  any  tracks  which  they  might  leave  between 
the  auto  and  the  tree. 

The  fact  that  the  detectives  who  had  watched 
the  tree  had  failed  thus  far  to  hear  or  see  any- 
thing, strengthened  Green  in  this  conviction. 
During  their  watch  on  the  tree  it  was  probable 
that  all  the  detectives  had  remained  at  some 
little  distance  so  as  not  to  frighten  off  anybody 
approaching  it  with  evil  intent.  For  people 
living  in  the  country,  and  familiar  with  the 
locality,  it  should  be  an  easy  matter  to  approach 
the  tree  noiselessly  in  the  dark  and  then  get 
away  without  being  observed.  In  connection 
with  these  theories  Green  had  worked  out  a 
plan,  which  Forrester's  commission  now  enabled 
him  to  put  into  effect. 

The  murder  of  George  Nevins,  and  the 
demand  made  on  Forrester,  coming  close  to- 
gether, led  Green  to  believe  that  the  "  Friends 
of  the  Poor,"  made  bolder  by  past  success,  were 
now  making  a  big  drive  on  the  rich  men  of  the 
city.  It  was  more  than  probable,  therefore, 
that  other  notices  had  been  sent  out,  and  that 
almost  any  night  some  victim  could  be  expected 
to  approach  the  tree  and  leave  his  payment. 


THE    FLAMING    HAND  75 

This,  of  course,  would  also  mean  a  visit  by  the 
criminals. 

On  Wednesday  evening,  just  as  dusk  was 
falling,  Green  dropped  off  the  train,  carrying 
a  heavy  bundle  in  each  hand.  He  had  care- 
fully studied  an  automobile  road  map  of  the 
vicinity  and  found  no  difficulty  in  locating  the 
oak  tree.  Jasper  lane  sloped  away  in  both 
directions  from  a  point  opposite  the  tree  so 
that  Green  could  see  a  considerable  distance  in 
either  direction.  After  a  careful  inspection  of 
his  surroundings,  to  make  sure  that  he  was  not 
observed,  he  swiftly  plunged  into  the  heavy 
undergrowth  at  the  side  of  the  road  directly 
facing  the  tree. 

Green  had  carefully  timed  his  arrival  to  give 
him  a  few  minutes  of  daylight  to  arrange  his 
apparatus,  which  consisted  of  a  small  storage 
battery  and  a  powerful  automobile  spotlight. 
He  drove  a  stick  into  the  ground  and  attached 
the  spotlight  to  it.  The  light  was  so  arranged 
that  it  could  not  be  seen  by  anyone  passing  on 
the  roadway  before  dark.  At  the  same  time 
the  light  had  a  clear  space  through  which  to 
throw  its  beam  directly  on  the  tree  when  the 
current  was  switched  on.  Green  connected  the 
storage  battery  to  the  spotlight  and  tried  the 


76  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

switch  a  couple  of  times  to  make  sure  that  it 
was  in  working  order.  Then  he  sat  down 
beside  his  apparatus,  leaned  his  back  against  a 
tree,  and  prepared  to  await  developments. 

After  darkness  fell  he  found  his  vigil  some- 
what tiresome.  He  dared  not  smoke,  nor 
strike  a  light  of  any  kind,  so  it  was  impossible 
to  even  take  note  of  the  time.  Under  such 
circumstances  time  seems  to  stretch  to  an 
interminable  length  and  the  nerves  get  on  edge. 
Green  at  length  felt  these  effects  from  the 
waiting  game  he  had  started  to  play. 

During  his  many  years  on  the  police  force, 
and  since  beginning  his  career  as  a  private  detec- 
tive, his  work  had  been  confined  to  well-lighted 
city  streets.  Lately,  much  of  his  time  had  been 
spent  in  brilliantly  lighted  resorts,  keeping  an 
appraising  eye  on  the  after-business-hours 
amusements  of  trusted  employees.  To  step 
from  these  places  to  the  thick  woods  on  a  dark, 
still  night  was  something  of  a  change,  and  as 
time  passed  Green  was  willing  to  admit  it. 

He  had  never  before  believed  that  such 
absolute  quiet  could  be  possible.  All  Nature 
slept.  No  chirp  of  bird  voices,  or  hum  of 
insects,  could  be  heard.  There  was  no  sound 
save  the  occasional  rustling  of  leaves  overhead, 


THE    FLAMING   HAND  77 

the  distant  and  weird  call  of  locomotives  on 
the  railroad,  and  once  in  a  great  while  the 
snapping  of  a  twig  in  the  underbrush,  or  the 
sound  of  something  dropping  through  the  trees. 
These  were  just  the  ordinary  sounds  of  the 
woods  at  night,  but  to  Green's  inexperienced 
ears  they  might  mean  anything,  and  many  times 
one  hand  shot  out  to  the  switch  on  his  lighting 
apparatus  while  the  other  grasped  the  automatic 
in  his  pocket.  But  each  sound  had  stood  by 
itself,  and  Green's  nervous  alertness  relaxed  as 
time  wore  on. 

Suddenly  Green's  ears  caught  the  sound  of  a 
stone  overturned  on  the  roadway.  This  was 
more  like  the  sounds  he  had  been  expecting  and 
his  body  stiffened  to  attention.  A  moment 
later  he  heard  the  sound  again,  a  little  nearer, 
and  then  a  third  time  it  came  from  the  road 
directly  opposite  to  him.  To  Green  it  could 
mean  nothing  but  the  cautious  footsteps  of  some- 
one approaching  the  tree.  He  continued  to 
listen  intently.  Sure  enough,  there  was  a  slight 
scratching  sound  in  the  direction  of  the  tree. 
This  was  Green's  long  awaited  opportunity. 
Abruptly  he  threw  the  switch  and  a  broad  beam 
of  light  made  the  great  trunk  of  the  oak  stand 
out  against  the  black  background  of  the  woods. 


78  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

The  sight  was  not  at  all  what  Green  had  ex- 
pected to  see.  He  quickly  switched  off  the  light 
and  swore  volubly  yet  softly.  All  that  he  had 
discovered  was  a  night-prowling  cat  in  the  act 
of  climbing  the  tree,  probably  in  search  of  birds' 
nests. 

The  discovery  that  this  sound  had  its  source 
in  a  common,  everyday  house  cat,  greatly 
relieved  the  tension  on  Green's  nerves.  He 
readjusted  himself  to  a  more  comfortable  posi- 
tion and  for  some  time  paid  little  attention  to 
the  various  sounds  about  him.  Gradually, 
however,  he  became  conscious  of  a  sound  that  he 
had  not  heard  before.  To  Green  it  appeared 
something  like  the  whistling  of  the  wind  just 
before  a  summer  thunderstorm,  but  looking  up, 
he  saw  that  the  sky  was  unclouded  and  filled 
with  a  multitude  of  twinkling  stars. 

The  sound  continued  at  intervals,  growing 
louder  on  each  occasion,  and  at  last  Green  real- 
ized, with  a  start,  that  it  was  distinctly  like  a 
human  sigh.  In  a  moment  Green's  phlegmatic 
constitution  was  upset.  He  became  conscious 
of  a  slight  chill  in  his  spine  and  a  peculiar  ting- 
ling in  his  scalp.  When,  a  moment  later,  he 
distinctly  heard  a  metallic  rattle  like  a  person 
in  heavy  chains  trying  to  move  about,  he  swore 


THE    FLAMING   HAND  79 

audibly  for  comfort  and  promised  himself  that 
if  he  ever  got  back  to  the  city  alive,  he  would 
resign  forthwith. 

The  sound  of  his  own  voice  relieved  him  a 
little,  and  reason  reasserted  itself.  Neither 
victims  depositing  money,  nor  the  criminals  who 
might  be  seeking  it,  would  be  apt  to  make 
noises  like  that.  On  the  other  hand,  Green  had 
never  believed  in  the  supernatural.  He 
ascribed  everything  to  a  human  agency,  and  he 
now  argued  that  for  whatever  reason  the  sounds 
were  made,  some  human  being  was  back  of 
them.  He  resolved  that  the  next  time  a  sound 
came  to  him  he  would  throw  on  the  light. 

But  that  next  sound  was  more  uncanny  than 
anything  that  had  gone  before,  and  as  Green 
listened  he  temporarily  forgot  about  the  light. 
What  he  heard  was  the  muffled  tolling  of  a 
bell.  The  sound  rose  and  fell  on  the  still 
night  j  now  seemingly  close  at  handj  now 
floating  far  away. 

Green  was  sure  that  it  must  be  very  close  to 
midnight,  and  even  though  it  had  been  earlier 
in  the  evening,  it  was  not  likely  that  anyone 
would  be  ringing  a  church  or  school  bell. 
Moreover,  he  was  confident  that  the  sound  he 
heard  originated  in  "his  immediate  neighborhood. 


8o  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

Gradually  the  sound  of  the  tolling  bell  grew 
fainter  and  seemed  to  drift  away.  Green  threw 
on  the  switch  again.  He  could  see  the  tree 
and  the  space  about  it  clearly,  but  there  was 
no  sign  of  anyone,  and  he  could  detect  no  move- 
ment in  the  undergrowth.  Even  the  cat  had 
silently  disappeared.  Green  allowed  the  light 
to  remain  on  for  a  minute,  while  he  listened 
intently,  and  keenly  inspected  the  scene  before 
him.  Then  he  switched  the  light  off  once  more 
and  resumed  his  watch.  But  Green  was  recall- 
ing certain  eerie  stories  he  had  heard  in  years 
gone  by,  and  there  in  the  dark  and  silent  woods 
many  disturbing  doubts  besieged  him. 

For  a  time  his  eyes  were  blinded  by  the 
recent  glare  of  his  light,  and  the  darkness  shut 
him  in  like  a  wall.  After  a  while,  however, 
his  eyes  again  became  accustomed  to  the  dark- 
ness and  he  could  dimly  see  the  gray  road  in 
the  starlight.  At  the  same  moment  that  his 
vision  had  adjusted  itself  to  the  darkness,  Green 
was  conscious  of  something  like  a  moving 
shadow  in  the  roadway  before  him.  He  heard 
no  sound,  yet  he  was  confident  that  someone 
or  something  had  stopped  in  front  of  the  tree. 
He  did  not  hesitate  this  time  but  instantly  threw 
on  his  light.  It  brought  out  in  bold  relief  the 


THE    FLAMING    HAND  81 

figure  of  a  woman  walking  up  the  path  toward 
the  tree.  She  stopped  abruptly  at  the  un- 
expected burst  of  light  and  Green  realized  that 
she  would  instinctively  turn  to  see  its  source, 
allowing  him  to  see  her  face. 

Indeed,  she  had  already  begun  that  turning 
movement  when  Green's  vision  was  suddenly 
shut  off  by  a  broad  hand  that  covered  his  eyes, 
and  he  felt  a  long  arm  encircle  his  body.  He 
struggled  desperately,  but  the  person  who  held 
him  was  too  powerful.  Green  was  like  a  child 
in  that  vise-like  grasp.  He  felt  a  precipitate 
movement  of  the  body  of  this  person,  followed 
by  a  crash  in  the  roadway.  Green  needed 
nothing  more  to  tell  him  that  his  lighting  out- 
fit had  been  kicked  aside  and  probably 
destroyed. 

Then  Green  felt  himself  unexpectedly  pro- 
pelled out  into  the  roadway  by  a  pair  of  power- 
ful arms.  He  lost  his  balance  and  fell  at  full 
length.  The  dust  rose  in  clouds  about  him, 
momentarily  stifling  and  blinding  him.  All 
thought  of  the  supernatural  had  now  been 
driven  from  Green's  mind.  He  had  plainly 
seen  a  woman  who  could  not  possibly  be  a 
ghostly  visitant,  and  he  had  been  very  roughly 
treated  by  some  other  person  who  could  not  for 


82  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

one  moment  be  considered  as  a  misty,  dis- 
embodied spirit.  Green  scrambled  to  his  feet, 
pulling  out  his  automatic  as  he  did  so,  and 
stared  about  him.  As  far  as  the  darkness  would 
permit  his  gaze  to  penetrate  Green  could  see  no 
strange  forms  or  movement  anywhere,  and  the 
silence  of  the  woods  was  unbroken.  Whoever 
had  been  there  had  made  good  their  escape 
during  the  time  Green  was  stretched  in  the 
road. 

Green  stood  with  his  back  toward  the  tree. 
Glancing  warily  in  all  directions  he  slowly 
turned  to  face  it.  Then,  as  he  looked  toward 
the  tree  he  became  aware  of  a  white,  or  green- 
ish-white, misty  glow  that  seemed  to  come  from 
it.  Gradually  this  light  increased  until  he 
seemed  to  be  able  to  dimly  make  out  the  small 
hole  in  the  tree.  Suddenly  a  more  pronounced 
mass  of  light  appeared.  It  was  not  a  bright 
light  j  simply  a  hazy,  greenish  glow  in  the  dark- 
ness, though  it  seemed  to  flame  and  smoke  in 
a  weird,  peculiar  manner.  Green  remembered 
having  read  or  heard  somewhere  that  specter 
forms  were  supposed  to  emit  just  such  a  light. 
While  he  stared,  wild-eyed  and  shaking,  the 
light  apparently  took  the  form  of  a  hand  point- 
ing at  him.  And  as  he  continued  to  look  in 


THE    FLAMING    HAND  83 

petrified  amazement  Green  realized  that  it  was 
a  hand  —  a  flaming,  smoking,  ghastly  hand. 
And  then  he  saw  also  that  the  hand  was  slowly 
turning.  At  last  he  could  perceive  quite 
distinctly  that  the  flaming  hand  was  pointing 
in  the  direction  from  which  he  had  come. 

Green  had  had  enough.  He  took  the  hint 
and  started  down  the  road  as  fast  as  his  legs 
could  carry  him. 


CHAPTER   VII 

SPIRIT  CLUES 

WHILE  driving  down  from  the  North 
Shore,  Forrester  decided  to  ascertain 
as  soon  as  possible  if  either  Green  or  the  detec- 
tive bureau  had  ever  heard  of  the  strange 
rumors  regarding  the  oak  tree,  for  it  seemed  to 
him  that  to  the  trained  detective  mind  this 
might  offer  some  suggestion.  Forrester  did  not 
believe  in  the  supernatural.  Such  occurrences 
must  be  backed  by  a  human  agency  of  some  sort, 
and  the  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  these 
occult  manifestations,  if  carefully  analyzed, 
might  lead  to  the  formation  of  a  definite  clue. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  Forrester 
reached  the  city,  but  he  did  not  delay  his 
inquiries.  He  went  first  to  Green's  office, 
finding,  of  course,  that  the  detective  had  already 
left  to  carry  out  his  plan  of  night  observation, 
although  Green's  office  girl,  trained  to  secrecy, 
said  that  she  did  not  know  anything  about  the 
detective's  movements.  Forrester  then  went 
to  the  detective  bureau  and  related  his  story. 

84 


SPIRIT    CLUES  85 

Far  from  attaching  any  importance  to  the 
matter,  the  men  there  simply  laughed  at  and 
ridiculed  the  story  of  a  haunted  tree,  ascribing 
it  solely  to  the  well-known  superstitious  nature 
of  colored  people.  They  assured  Forrester  that 
it  could  have  no  bearing  whatsoever  upon  the 
case,  and  he  left  the  detective  bureau  more  im- 
pressed than  ever  with  the  idea  that  the  solution 
of  the  problem  was  entirely  in  his  hands. 
Humphrey's  general  analysis  now  assumed 
greater  importance  in  Forrester's  eyes,  for  the 
reporter  had  predicted  that  Forrester  would 
discover  clues  unnoticed  or  disregarded  by  the 
detectives.  Here  was  a  quick  fulfilment  of 
Humphrey's  prophecy! 

As  Forrester  closed  the  front  door,  after 
reaching  home,  his  mother  and  sister  hurried 
out  into  the  hall  to  meet  him.  Mrs.  Forrester 
threw  her  arms  around  his  neck,  while  Josephine 
sympathetically  took  one  of  his  hands  in  both 
her  own. 

"  My  poor  boy!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Forrester. 
"  Why  didn't  you  tell  us  you  were  worried  to 
death?" 

"  Worried! "  echoed  Forrester.  "  Where  did 
you  get  the  idea  that  I  was  worried?" 

"  Oh,  Bob,"  explained  Josephine,  "  we  read 


86  THE    SECRET   TOLL     . 

that  article  in  the  Times  this  morning,  and 
people  have  been  calling  us  up  all  day." 

"  Why  didn't  you  tell  us  you  received  one 
of  those  dreadful  notices?"  queried  Mrs. 
Forrester. 

"  Because  I  didn't  think  it  amounted  to  any- 
thing," answered  Forrester.  "  There  was  no 
use  upsetting  you  with  a  little  thing  like  that." 

"A  little  thing  like  that!"  exclaimed  Jose- 
phine. "Why  they  killed  poor  Mr.  Nevins! 
When  we  didn't  hear  anything  from  you  all 
day  we  were  sure  you  had  met  with  an 
accident." 

"  And  the  paper  said  you  were  so  frightened, 
Bob,"  added  his  mother,  "  that  we  thought 
perhaps  you  had  run  away  and  hidden  some- 
where without  letting  us  know." 

"  Damn ! "  exploded  Forrester.  "  Wait  until 
I  get  my  hands  on  that  reporter!" 

"Arn't  you  really  frightened?"  asked 
Josephine. 

"  Do  I  look  frightened?"  retorted  Forrester. 
"  You  mustn't  believe  all  the  rubbish  you  see 
in  the  newspapers.  Those  reporters  have  to 
invent  half  the  stuff  they  write." 

"  But  you  did  get  a  notice,  didn't  you,  Son?" 
asked  Mrs.  Forrester. 


SPIRIT   CLUES  87 

"  Certainly,  but  it's  nothing  to  get  excited 
about,"  grumbled  Forrester.  "  I'll  just  put  the 
money  in  that  tree  Saturday  night  and  the  whole 
thing  will  be  forgotten.  Prentice  told  me  he 
had  had  the  same  experience  once,  and  you  see 
nothing  ever  happened  to  him." 

"  Oh,  don't  wait  until  Saturday,"  protested 
Mrs.  Forrester.  "  Take  it  up  right  now  and 
get  the  thing  off  our  minds.  The  decorators 
are  through  and  before  we  saw  that  newspaper 
article  I  had  made  all  arrangements  to  move  out 
to  *  Woodmere  '  Saturday  morning." 

"  Yes,"  added  Josephine,  "  fix  it  up  right  now 
as  Mother  suggests,  Bob.  We  would  never 
dare  move  out  into  the  country  with  this  threat 
hanging  over  you,  and  I  do  so  want  to  leave 
the  hot  city.  Practically  all  our  friends  are 
up  in  the  country  now." 

"  Now  look  here,  folks,"  protested  Forrester, 
releasing  himself  from  the  embraces  of  his 
mother  and  sister,  and  throwing  back  his 
shoulders.  "  Pm  the  head  of  this  house,  and 
I  command  you  to  say  nothing  more  about  this 
matter.  .  Let  your  arrangements  for  moving 
Saturday  morning  go  ahead  just  as  you  had 
planned.  I  cannot  do  anything  about  deliver- 
ing this  money  before  Saturday  night,  as  these 


88  THE    SECRET    TOLL 

men  would  not  be  expecting  it  until  that  time. 
Now,  mind  what  I  say  and  forget  about  it. 
It's  all  nonsense,  coddling  and  worrying  about 
a  man  who  has  come  safely  through  the  war. 
The  police  are  working  on  the  case  right  now 
and  you  have  absolutely  no  cause  for  worry  or 
fear." 

"  But  Mr.  Nevins   "  began  Josephine. 

"  His  case  has  nothing  to  do  with  mine," 
interrupted  Forrester.  "  He  was  an  old  man 
in  the  first  place  j  and  in  the  second,  he  didn't 
take  any  precautions." 

"  But  there  have  been  others "  started 

Mrs.  Forrester. 

"  Now,  noWy  NOWJ "  exclaimed  Forrester. 
"Don't  say  another  word!  You  can  safely 
leave  this  whole  matter  to  me.  Now  then, 
Mother,  have  dinner  served  at  once.  I  didn't 
have  any  luncheon  and  I'm  hungry  as  a  bear." 

During  dinner  Mrs.  Forrester  referred  to 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Nevins'  funeral  would  take 
place  on  Thursday  afternoon  at  three  o'clock, 
and  after  promising  to  attend,  Forrester  did 
not  again  allow  them  to  refer  to  the  matter  in 
any  way.  Dinner  over,  Forrester  retired  to  a 
corner  of  the  library,  ostensibly  to  read,  but 
though  he  occasionally  turned  a  page  of  his 


SPIRIT   CLUES  89 

book  to  keep  up  the  pretense,  his  mind  was 
absorbed  in  the  problem  of  the  "  Friends  of 
the  Poor  "  and  the  working  out  of  a  plan  of 
action  for  the  following  day. 

At  eight  o'clock  Thursday  morning  Forrester 
left  home  in  his  roadster  and  went  straight  to 
Green's  office.  The  detective  had  had  two 
nights  and  a  day  for  investigation,  and  For- 
rester was  anxious  to  know  what  facts  he  might 
have  in  his  possession  before  continuing  his  own 
researches. 

Green  was  at  his  desk  when  Forrester  entered 
the  office,  and  the  young  man  noted  the  detec- 
tive's dusty  clothes,  sickly  pallor  and  the 
shadows  under  his  eyes.  Green  must  have  been 
working  hard,  Forrester  thought,  and  therefore 
would  have  information  of  importance. 

"  How-do,"  grunted  Green,  without  rising. 

"  Good  morning,"  returned  Forrester,  draw- 
ing a  chair  up  to  Green's  desk.  "  I  have  an 
idea  that  you  are  going  to  give  me  some  news." 

"  My  God ! "  gasped  Green,  with  such 
vehemence  that  the  usual  unlighted  cigar 
dropped  from  his  mouth  and  remained  un- 
noticed on  the  floor. 

"  Well,"  queried  Forrester,  "  what  are  you 


90  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

so  upset  about?     Did  you  get  a  notice,  too?" 

"  I've  been  through  hell,"  groaned  Green. 
"  Ain't  been  to  bed  all  night.  Couldn't  eat 
any  breakfast.  Damn  Prohibition  anyway! 
What  I  need  right  now  is  a  whole  goblet  o* 
whiskey!" 

Forrester  laughed.  "  I  can  get  that  for  you 
if  I  decide  you  need  it  for  medicinal  purposes, 
Green.  But  I  should  like  to  hear  your  story 
first." 

"  Couldn't  you  arrange  the  drink  first,  Mr. 
Forrester?"  pleaded  Green. 

"  No,"  returned  Forrester,  "  Pd  have  to  take 
you  up  to  our  country  house,  c  Woodmere ', 
to  get  that  for  you,  and  Pm  afraid  you  couldn't 
stand  the  trip  until  you  get  this  trouble  off  your 
mind.  Come  on,  pull  yourself  together  and 
tell  me  what  has  happened." 

"  I  hate  to  repeat  it,  Mr.  Forrester.  God 
knows,  I  don't  even  like  to  think  about  it ! " 

"  You  make  me  curious,  Green.  I'll  bet  you 
have  got  a  clue  —  for  it  begins  to  look  like 
you'd  had  a  real  fight  with  those  men." 

Forrester  glanced  down  at  Green's  dusty 
clothes. 

"Men?"  snorted  Green.  "There  ain't  no 
men!" 


SPIRIT    CLUES  91 

Forrester  gave  a  startled  exclamation  and 
looked  at  Green  in  amazement  for  a  moment. 
The  reply  was  curiously  like  that  which  the 
negro  had  made  to  him  the  day  before. 

"  Mr.  Forrester,"  continued  Green,  "  I've 
been  doin'  police  and  detective  work  for  twenty 
years.  I  ain't  afraid  o'  no  man  livin'.  Just 
show  me  a  bunch  c?  tough  mugs  and  Pll  jump 
right  in  and  clean  'em  up.  But  I'm  damned  if 
I'll  ever  sit  out  in  the  woods  at  night  again  with 
rustlin'  leaves,  bodiless  voices  and  burnin' 
hands!  No,  sir  —  never  again!  You  don't 
want  no  detective  to  solve  this  case,  Mr.  For- 
rester—  you  want  a  spiritualist,  or  somethin' 
like  that!" 

"Look  here,  Green!"  exclaimed  Forrester. 
"  You're  too  old  and  experienced  a  man  — 
you've  got  too  much  common  sense  —  to  believe 
in  stuff  like  that.  Who  has  been  telling  you  all 
these  things?" 

"  Tellin'  me?"  gasped  Green.  "  My  God! 
I  seen  'em  myself,  with  my  own  eyes;  heard 
'em  with  my  own  ears.  Nobody  don't  have  to 
tell  me  nothin'.  I  seen  it!" 

"  Mere  trickery! "  scoffed  Forrester.  "  Some- 
one was  playing  a  joke  on  you." 

"Damn  it  all!"  cried  Green,  jumping  up 


92  THE    SECRET    TOLL 

and  pounding  a  huge  fist  on  his  desk.  "  Don't 
tell  me  I  didn't  see  what  I  seen.  I  never  had 
no  superstition  till  last  night,  but  believe  me! 
You  can  tell  me  any  kind  oj  a  ghost  story  now 
and  I'll  swear  to  it.  Take  it  from  me,  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge  and  all  them  people  ain't  so 
cracked  as  we  thought  they  was.  I  thought 
them  city  detectives  was  a  bunch  o'  boneheads, 
but  I  apologize  to  'em  now  —  every  one.  I 
tell  you,  Mr.  Forrester,  here's  a  case  that'll 
never  be  solved.  It's  some  imp  o'  hell  that 
leaves  those  notices  at  people's  doors.  No 
wonder  they're  found  asphyxiated  when  they 
don't  pay.  It's  coal-gas  straight  from  hell  that 
comes  out  and  suffocates  'em.  You'll  never 
catch  nobody  takin'  that  money  out  o'  that  tree, 
'cause  you  can  take  my  word  for  it,  when  you 
put  it  in  there,  a  ghostly,  flamin'  hand  reaches 
over  your  shoulder  and  pulls  it  out  again. 
Believe  me,  no  human  eyes  is  goin'  to  see  the 
people  that  gets  that  money." 

"Now  look  here,  Green!"  exclaimed  For- 
rester. "  I'm  willing  to  admit  that  something 
or  other  has  given  you  a  bad  scare,  and  that 
you've  lost  your  grip.  What  you  need  is  a 
good  breakfast  and  some  hot  coffee.  Come 
on  out  with  me  and  get  your  breakfast.  You 


SPIRIT    CLUES  93 

can  tell  me  the  whole  story  wniie  you're 
eating." 

Green  mumbled  objections,  but  Forrester 
continued  to  urge  him  until  the  man  put  on  his 
hat  and  accompanied  Forrester  to  a  nearby 
restaurant.  There,  between  gulps  of  food  and 
the  consuming  of  several  cups  of  hot  coffee, 
Green  told  his  story  across  the  table  to 
Forrester. 

At  its  close,  Forrester  lit  a  cigarette  and  sat 
in  deep  thought.  To  Forrester,  Green's  origi- 
nal theory  that  some  or  all  of  the  "  Friends  of 
the  Poor  "  lived  near  the  tree,  seemed  extremely 
plausible.  Crude  as  the  detective  might  be, 
his  reasoning  in  this  regard  apparently  had  a 
sound  basis  in  the  weird  happenings  as  related 
by  Joshua,  and  now  confirmed  by  Green's  ex- 
perience. Combining  the  theories  of  both 
Green  and  Humphrey,  and  fitting  them  in  with 
the  negro's  story  and  Green's  tale,  threw  several 
hitherto  unnoticed  figures  into  the  limelight. 
Forrester  did  not  doubt  for  a  minute  that  the 
woman  revealed  by  Green's  light  was  the  girl 
referred  to  by  Joshua.  If  so,  then  the  man  who 
had  attacked  Green  was  probably  the  big  negro 
himself.  A  third  person  to  be  considered  was 
the  peculiar  negress,  said  to  live  in  the  woods 


94  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

near  the  tree.  Forrester  remembered  with  a 
start  Humphrey's  triangulation  theory.  Here 
were  three  prominent  figures  with  which  to  lay 
down  a  triangle.  Surely  he  was  making  more 
progress  in  the  quest  than  any  of  the  detectives. 
These  occurrences  might  only  be  indefinite 
spirit  clues,  but  they  pointed  accusing  fingers 
at  several  very  definite  people. 

Though  he  had  little  faith  in  Green's  ability 
as  a  detective,  it  was  possible  that  the  man's 
very  stupidity  might  force  him  to  stumble  upon 
worth  while  clues,  as  in  this  instance  j  clues 
which  Forrester  later  could  make  use  of  in 
his  own  deliberations.  Thinking  along  these 
lines,  Forrester  decided  that  he  would  not  allow 
Green  to  leave  the  case,  as  the  man  had  inti- 
mated he  would  do. 

"  Green,"  said  Forrester,  at  length,  "  you 
spoke  in  your  office  as  if  you  wished  to  drop  this 
case." 

"You  bet  I  do!"  returned  Green,  em- 
phatically. 

"  That  would  be  foolish,"  remonstrated  For- 
rester. "  There's  a  good  deal  of  money  in  it 
for  you,  and  your  reputation  won't  lose  anything 
if  you  are  on  the  ground  when  the  case  is 
solved." 


SPIRIT    CLUES  95 

"  It'll  never  be  solved,"  affirmed  Green, 
positively. 

"  Yes,  it  will,"  declared  Forrester.  "  I'm 
going  to  do  it,  with  your  help." 

Green  stared.  "  You  ain't  seen  nothin'  yet," 
he  protested. 

"  Now,  listen  to  me,"  went  on  Forrester. 
"  On  Saturday  morning  we  open  our  country 
house.  I  want  you  to  come  up  on  the  noon 
train  with  enough  baggage  to  last  you  all  sum- 
mer, or  until  we  settle  this  case.  You  are  to 
be  my  bodyguard  when  I  am  home,  and  watch 
the  house  while  I  am  away.  Occasionally  I 
may  want  you  to  look  up  certain  things  for  me, 
but  I  will  promise  you  right  now  that  I  won't 
ask  you  to  go  near  that  tree  again  unless  I  am 
with  you.  Our  chauffeur  has  a  nice  place  over 
the  garage  and  Pll  have  him  give  you  a  room 
there,  so  you  can  be  close  at  hand.  Now,  that's 
settled.  The  noon  train,  remember.  And 
here's  the  address." 

Forrester  tore  off  a  corner  of  a  menu  and 
wrote  out  directions  for  reaching  "  Woodmere." 

Green  wavered.  "  Well,  I  dunno,"  he  said, 
hesitatingly. 

Forrester  leaned  across  the  table. 

"  Green,"  he  said,  smiling,  "  we  have  a  little 


96  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

private  stock  left  in  the  cellar  up  there.  Our 
guests  are  permitted  to  use  it." 

Green's  eyes  twinkled.  "  That  might  help 
to  keep  them  ghosts  away.  One  poison  some- 
times counteracts  another,  so  I  guess  one  kind 
o*  spirits  might  chase  away  the  other  kind." 

"Then  the  matter  is  settled?"  asked 
Forrester. 

"  Sure  thing,"  grinned  the  mollified  detec- 
tive. "But  remember  —  Pve  got  to  have 
regular  protection  against  ghosts." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    GIRL    ON    THE    HORSE 

TAKING  Green  to  breakfast  and  listening 
to  his  story  had  occupied  more  time  than 
Forrester  had  allotted  for  his  interview  with 
the  detective.  So,  after  leaving  the  city  behind 
and  entering  the  smooth  and  less  frequented 
roads  of  the  North  Shore,  he  drove  his  roadster 
at  a  pace  that  would  quickly  have  brought  him 
into  the  toils  of  any  local  guardians  of  the  law 
who  might  have  spied  his  racing  motor. 
Fortunately,  they  were  reserving  their  watchful- 
ness for  a  later  hour  of  the  day  and  Forrester 
kept  up  his  swift  pace  until  familiar  landmarks 
told  him  that  he  was  approaching  Jasper  lane. 

He  had  just  placed  his  hand  on  the  gear  lever 
when  a  horse  and  rider  unexpectedly  appeared 
coming  out  of  a  narrow  side-road  a  short 
distance  ahead.  Forrester  threw  out  his  clutch 
and  shifted  his  hand  to  the  emergency  brake. 
So  great  had  been  his  speed,  however,  that  the 
car  slid  for  some  distance  along  the  oily  roadway 
and  passed  directly  under  the  horse's  nose. 

97 


98  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

Both  horse  and  rider  were  startled.  Snorting 
wildly,  the  horse  reared  on  his  hind  legs  with 
such  suddenness  that  his  rider  was  thrown  to 
the  ground.  Forrester  jumped  from  his  car 
and  ran  back  to  see  if  he  could  be  of  any  assist- 
ance. He  discovered  then  that  the  rider  was 
a  girl,  who  had  sprung  quickly  to  her  feet 
before  he  reached  her. 

"  I  am  sorry,"  exclaimed  Forrester,  apolo- 
getically, removing  his  cap.  "  Are  you  hurt?" 

"  Oh,  no,"  she  returned,  with  a  smile,  "  it 
was  nothing  at  all." 

"  It  was  very  careless  of  me,"  continued  For- 
rester, "  not  seeing  you  sooner." 

"  Not  at  all!"  returned  the  girl.  "  It  was 
entirely  my  fault.  I  should  have  remembered 
that  I  was  approaching  the  main  motor  highway 
and  been  more  cautious."  Her  eyes  twinkled, 
as  she  added,  "  Just  like  a  woman,  wasn't  it?" 

"  Well,"  smiled  Forrester,  hesitatingly,  "  I 
wouldn't  exactly  say  that." 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  would,"  she  asserted.  "  I 
know  how  you  men  talk  about  us  behind  our 
backs.  You  see,  I  have  a  brother." 

"  I  would  not  take  what  a  brother  said  as  a 
guide  to  other  men's  opinions,"  suggested  For- 
rester. "  Brothers  do  not  always  fully  appreci- 
ate their  sister's  charms." 


THE   GIRL    ON    THE    HORSE        99 

"  Am  I  to  consider  that  as  a  compliment,  or 
just  a  piece  of  information?"  challenged  the 
girl. 

"  I  leave  that  to  your  own  good  judgment," 
returned  Forrester. 

The  girl  flushed  slightly.  "  Would  you 
mind  catching  my  horse?"  she  requested. 

Forrester  glanced  around  and  saw  that  the 
horse  was  ambling  along  by  himself  and  already 
some  distance  away.  Forrester  started  after 
the  horse  at  a  run,  and  thought  with  deep  cha- 
grin that  the  girl  standing  back  there  in  the  road 
was  probably  laughing  at  him.  To  run  before 
a  new  acquaintance  is  never  a  graceful  perform- 
ance. He  had  seen  a  spirit  of  mischief  lurking 
in  the  girl's  eyes  and  he  half  suspected  that  her 
horse  could  have  been  recalled  without  this 
display  of  energy  on  his  part.  Probably  it  was 
his  punishment  for  attempting  to  compliment 
her  on  such  short  acquaintance.  Forrester 
caught  the  horse  without  difficulty,  which  con- 
vinced him  that  his  supposition  regarding  the 
girPs  purpose  was  correct.  He  took  advantage 
of  the  return  trip  with  the  horse  to  study  her 
carefully  and  deliberately  j  partly  for  his  own 
information  and  partly  to  punish  her  for  send- 
ing him  after  the  horse. 


ioo  THE    SECRET    TOLL 

He  had  already  noted  that  her  hair  was 
slightly  reddish  in  hue  and  very  abundant,  and 
that  her  eyes  were  brown.  He  now  observed 
that  she  was  tall,  but  not  too  tall,  and  slender, 
but  not  too  slender.  She  was  attired  in  a 
brown  linen  riding  suit,  with  tan  boots,  and  a 
white  straw  sailor  hat.  Whether  accidentally 
or  by  design,  the  hat  was  tilted  at  just  the  right 
angle.  That  she  was  athletic  and  a  good  horse- 
woman was  evidenced  by  her  quick  recovery 
from  what  would  have  been  a  very  bad  fall 
for  the  average  woman. 

She  greeted  him  with  a  smile  as  he  neared 
her. 

"  My,  how  you  can  run!"  she  exclaimed. 

That  he  had  been  put  on  exhibition  Forrester 
was  now  sure,  and  his  resentment  must  have 
shown  in  his  face,  for  she  added,  soothingly, 
"  It  is  awfully  good  of  you  to  take  so  much 
trouble  for  a  stranger." 

Forrester  was  distinctly  attracted  to  the  girl. 
She  was  so  different  from  girls  that  he  knew. 
He  could  not  recollect  a  girl  of  his  acquaintance 
who  possessed  such  unquestionable  beauty  and 
engaging  personality,  combined  with  a  self- 
reliance  that  detracted  not  a  jot  from  her 
femininity.  Small  wonder  that  he  felt  a 


THE   GIRL    ON    THE    HORSE      101 

poignant  regret  that  they  were  about  to  part 
and  probably  never  meet  again.  Almost  un- 
consciously his  thoughts  took  the  form  of  words. 

"  Must  we  remain  strangers?"  he  asked. 

"  Perhaps,"  she  answered,  placing  her  foot 
in  the  stirrup  and  vaulting  lightly  into  the 
saddle.  She  smiled  down  at  him  and  then,  with 
a  wave  of  her  hand,  started  at  a  gallop  up  the 
road. 

Forrester  stood  a  moment  watching  her  re- 
treating figure. 

"  Perhaps! "  he  repeated  to  himself.  "  How 
am  I  to  take  that?  'Perhaps'  might  mean 
anything  —  yes,  or  no,  or  maybe.  Who  the 
deuce  can  she  be?  I'll  have  to  ask  Josephine 
if  she  knows  her." 

Going  back  to  his  roadster  Forrester  resumed 
his  journey.  It  was  his  intention  to  pay  a  call 
on  the  mysterious  negress,  so  just  before  he 
reached  the  oak  he  drove  his  car  well  up  on  the 
side  of  the  road  and  alighted.  With  Green's 
story  in  mind  he  glanced  around  to  see  if  any 
evidences  of  the  detective's  adventure  remained. 
Almost  in  front  of  the  oak  he  discovered  the 
battered  remains  of  the  spotlight,  and  in  the 
gulley  across  the  road  he  saw  a  corner  of  the 
small  storage  battery.  This  removed  any  doubt 


102  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

Forrester  might  have  had  that  Green  had 
actually  been  at  the  oak  tree.  In  fact,  it 
seemed  highly  probable  that  Green  had  really 
met  with  the  mishaps  he  described.  If  the 
detective  had  not  been  dreaming  or  drinking 
then  there  were  certainly  many  strange  things 
going  on  here  and  perhaps  some  real  clues  to 
be  unearthed. 

Forrester  stood  in  front  of  the  oak  for  some 
minutes,  deliberating.  Then  he  approached  it 
and  plunged  his  arm  into  the  opening  as  he 
had  done  the  day  before.  In  thinking  the 
matter  over  it  had  occurred  to  him  that  the  oak 
might  be  hollow  and  someone  concealed  within 
it.  After  feeling  carefully  around,  however, 
and  digging  his  fingers  once  more  into  the  rotten 
wood,  Forrester  was  convinced  that  this  hollow 
in  which  the  packages  of  money  were  placed, 
and  which  was  little  larger  than  a  man's  head, 
was  the  only  opening  in  the  tree.  The  rest  of 
the  great  trunk  appeared  to  be  absolutely  solid. 

Just  as  Forrester  withdrew  his  arm  from  the 
opening  he  heard  a  sound  behind  him  that  re- 
sembled several  persons  walking.  He  stood 
erect  and  turned  swiftly;  then  paused,  staring 
sheepishly,  like  a  bad  boy  caught  in  the  pantry. 
Before  him  was  the  girl  on  the  horse.  Her 


THE    GIRL    ON    THE    HORSE      103 

left  hand,  which  grasped  the  reins,  was  resting 
on  the  front  of  the  saddle,  while  her  right  hand 
was  buried  in  the  pocket  of  her  coat.  Surprised 
and  disconcerted  as  he  was,  Forrester  neverthe- 
less noted  the  easy  nonchalance  of  her  attitude. 
This  time,  however,  she  did  not  smile  but  sat 
regarding  him  with  the  suggestion  of  a  frown 
on  her  face. 

"  Putting  it  in  or  taking  it  out?"  she  inquired, 
lightly. 

"I  —  I  —  don't  know  what  you  mean," 
stammered  Forrester. 

She  slightly  raised  her  eyebrows.  "  I  pre- 
sume, if  I  were  to  ask  you  the  question,  you 
would  tell  me  you  did  not  know  that  oak  has 
a  bad  reputation." 

By  this  time  Forrester  had  recovered  his 
poise,  and  his  newly  acquired  detective  instinct 
asserted  itself.  The  girl  was  evidently  regard- 
ing him  with  something  approaching  suspicion, 
and  it  aroused  in  him  an  answering  feeling  of 
distrust.  In  these  surroundings  his  mind  was 
working  rapidly.  He  recalled  the  young  lady 
of  Joshua's  story,  and  the  woman  of  the  night 
in  Green's  recital. 

"  Has  it?"  asked  Forrester,  innocently,  after 
a  pause, 


104  THE    SECRET    TOLL 

The  girl  regarded  him  keenly  for  a  moment 
before  she  spoke. 

"  For  a  man  who  knows  so  little  about  it," 
she  said,  sarcastically,  "  you  seem  to  have  been 
in  a  great  hurry  to  get  here." 

"  I  don't  see  why  you  should  suppose  this  to 
be  my  original  destination,"  returned  For- 
rester. "  Possibly  the  large  size  of  this  tree 
attracted  my  attention  in  passing." 

"  Perhaps,"  she  said,  and  both  smiled  as  they 
recalled  the  last  time  that  word  was  spoken. 
Then  she  added,  "  But  you  have  not  -passed  yet. 
Your  car  is  still  some  distance  back  on  the  road. 
Think  of  a  better  one." 

"  Tell  me,"  exclaimed  Forrester,  "  do  you 
live  near  here?" 

Her  face  hardened  as  she  replied,  "  That  is 
an  unnecessary  question  at  this  time.  I  might 
even  say  that  it  savors  of  an  evasion." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  Forrester,  stiffly. 

Again  the  girl  sat  silently  regarding  him  and 
Forrester  met  her  eyes  with  a  steady  look.  He 
surmised  that  she  was  appraising  him  and  her 
next  question  confirmed  his  thought. 

"  Are  you  a  victim?"  she  inquired. 

"  My  dear  young  lady,"  returned  Forrester, 
"  about  all  we  do  is  to  ask  each  other  questions. 
Sometimes  7  don't  get  an  answer." 


THE    GIRL    ON    THE    HORSE      105 

"  I  accept  the  reproof  and  apologize,"  she 
said,  and  smiled.  "  I  live  just  a  little  way  up 
this  road." 

"  And  I  am  —  unfortunately  —  a  victim," 
admitted  Forrester. 

"  Now  we're  quits,"  laughed  the  girl. 
"  Let's  begin  again." 

"  If  this  tree  has  a  bad  reputation,"  said 
Forrester,  "  I  am  curious  to  know  why  a  girl, 
alone,  takes  a  doubtful  chance  by  talking  to  a 
strange  man  in  its  shadow." 

The  girl  partly  withdrew  her  right  hand  from 
her  coat  pocket. 

"  Pm  not  quite  alone,"  she  answered,  and 
Forrester  saw  that  she  held  a  small  automatic 
in  her  hand.  "  This  has  been  covering  you 
ever  since  I  rode  up." 

"  Certainly  I  shall  now  feel  it  incumbent 
upon  me  to  answer  all  questions,"  smiled 
Forrester. 

"  All  right,"  she  retorted,  quickly,  "  what  is 
your  name?" 

"  Forrester." 

"Robert  Forrester?" 

"  Yes,  how  did  you  guess?" 

A  wicked  little  smile  stole  over  the  girl's 
face.  "  You  are  the  last  person  I  should  expect 
to  see  here,"  she  declared. 


io6  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  Why?"  queried  Forrester. 

"  I  understood  you  were  scared  to  death," 
she  returned. 

"  That  damned  reporter  again ! "  burst  out 
Forrester,  clenching  his  hands.  "  Wait  until 
I  get  within  reach  of  him ! " 

"  My,  how  savage  you  are ! "  exclaimed  the 
girl,  with  mock  severity.  But  Forrester  saw 
that  her  eyes  twinkled. 

"  You  will  pardon  my  strong  language,"  he 
said,  "  but  this  is  not  the  first  time  that  article 
has  made  me  look  foolish." 

"Oh,  then  you're  not  really  frightened?" 
she  inquired,  her  eyes  still  .flashing  with  humor. 

Forrester  opened  his  mouth  as  if  to  speak, 
but  words  failed  him,  and  the  girl  threw  back 
her  head  and  laughed. 

"  Mr.  Forrester,"  she  said,  at  length,  leaning 
down  toward  him,  "  you  asked  me  a  little  while 
ago  if  we  must  remain  strangers.  I  can  now 
answer  your  question  definitely.  If  you  will 
come  over  to  the  house  for  a  minute  I  will 
give  you  a  letter  of  introduction,  which  I  have, 
addressed  to  your  mother.  I  had  intended  to 
deliver  it  in  person,  but  after  arriving  here  I 
found  you  were  still  in  town." 

Forrester  was  thunderstruck,  and  therefore 


THE   GIRL   ON    THE    HORSE      107 

speechless  for  a  moment.  This  was  too  good 
to  be  true. 

"My  name  is  Sturtevant,"  the  girl  continued. 
Then  added,  with  one  of  her  mischievous  smiles, 
"  Miss  Sturtevant." 

"  I  shall  be  very  glad,  indeed,  to  deliver 
your  letter,  Miss  Sturtevant,"  said  Forrester. 
"  Or  if  you  prefer  to  wait  until  Saturday,  you 
can  deliver  it  in  person  as  you  first  intended 
to  do.  We  move  out  to  '  Woodmere J  on 
Saturday." 

Forrester  had  no  sooner  said  this  than  he 
could  have  kicked  himself.  He  had  wanted 
to  have  a  look  at  the  place  she  occupied  and  he 
might  now  be  throwing  away  the  opportunity. 
When  he  recalled  the  negro's  words,  it  had 
seemed  as  if  the  girl  lived  alone.  If  she  did, 
it  would  be  both  odd  and  suspicious  under  the 
circumstances.  Forrester  was  anxious  to  ascer- 
tain this  fact  definitely,  and  he  was  pleased 
when  the  girl  disregarded  his  suggestion. 

"If  you  don't  mind,"  she  said,  "  I  should 
like  to  have  you  come  over  to  the  house  now  and 
get  the  letter." 

"  I  shall  be  delighted,"  returned  Forrester, 
this  time  without  qualification.  "  If  it  is  only  a 
short  distance  I  will  walk." 


io8  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  It  is  a  very  short  distance,"  informed  the 
girl.  "  It  would  be  hardly  worth  while  start- 
ing up  your  car."  Then  she  added,  "  Es- 
pecially if  you  plan  to  return  here." 

Forrester  glanced  up  at  her  quickly,  but  she 
was  already  turning  her  horse  back  to  the  road 
and  he  did  not  meet  her  eye.  Whether  or 
not  she  had  some  object  in  what  she  said,  or  was 
simply  poking  fun  at  him,  he  could  not  tell. 

Miss  Sturtevant  kept  her  horse  down  to  an 
easy  walk  and  Forrester  found  no  difficulty  in 
maintaining  his  place  at  her  side.  She  made 
no  further  reference  to  the  tree  and  its  evil 
repute,  so  Forrester  did  not  again  bring  up  the 
subject,  leading  their  light  chatter  instead  into 
comments  upon  the  surrounding  country. 

The  Bradbury  house,  which  Forrester  now 
knew  had  been  taken  by  Miss  Sturtevant,  stood 
only  a  short  distance  back  from  the  road,  and 
as  they  turned  into  the  gate  Forrester  could  see 
an  elderly  woman  on  the  porch.  A  few  minutes 
later  she  was  introduced  to  him  as  Mrs.  Morris, 
and  during  the  short  talk  he  had  with  her,  while 
Miss  Sturtevant  was  getting  her  letter,  he 
gathered  that  she  was  a  paid  companion  to  the 
girl.  Miss  Sturtevant  quickly  returned  with 
the  letter  for  his  mother,  and  after  a  few  brief 


THE   GIRL    ON    THE    HORSE      109 

words,  which  included  an  invitation  to  Forrester 
to  come  again,  they  parted. 

At  the  gate  Forrester  met  the  big  negro, 
Joshua. 

"  Hello,  Joshua,"  he  greeted  the  negro. 

"  Howdy-do,  suh." 

"  Any  new  stories  about  that  haunted  tree, 
Joshua?" 

"  No,  suh!  Mah  Missey  done  say  Ah  talk 
too  much."  And  the  negro  hurried  on. 

Forrester  wondered  as  he  returned  along  the 
road  toward  the  tree. 


CHAPTER    IX 

LUCY 

TT^ORRESTER  had  at  first  been  in  a  quandary 
f  as  to  the  character  in  which  he  should 
approach  the  negress.  If  she  were  open  to 
suspicion  it  would  be  unwise  for  him  to  pose  as 
a  detective,  or  openly  confess  to  being  a  victim 
of  the  "  Friends  of  the  Poor."  As  he  weighed 
the  matter,  a  recollection  of  Humphrey  offered 
him  a  suggestion.  Why  not,  for  the  moment, 
assume  the  character  of  Humphrey  and  ap- 
proach her  as  a  reporter?  The  fact  that  neither 
Humphrey  nor  the  detectives  had  at  any  time 
referred  to  her,  and  that  no  one  outside  of 
Joshua  had  mentioned  her,  led  him  to  believe 
that  her  retreat  in  the  woods  had  remained  un- 
noticed. A  visit  by  him  in  the  guise  of  a  re- 
porter would  probably  be  the  first  of  the  kind 
that  she  had  received.  Although  he  knew  Hum- 
phrey had  not  made  use  of  a  notebook  while 
interviewing  him,  Forrester  believed  that  a 
notebook  would  impress  an  ignorant  colored 
woman.  In  her  mind  it  would  more  fully  bear 

no 


LUCY  in 

out  his  claim  to  being  a  reporter.  In  accordance 
with  this  idea  Forrester  had  provided  himself 
with  a  new  and  imposing  notebook  which  he 
was  prepared  to  pull  out  as  soon  as  he  started 
his  interview  with  the  negress. 

Leaving  the  road,  Forrester  followed  the 
path  around  the  oak  and  back  into  the  woods. 
The  thick  foliage  shut  out  every  ray  of  sun- 
light and  Forrester  could  well  imagine  how  the 
gloom  and  silence  of  these  woods  would  give 
full  play  to  superstitious  minds.  If  the  ne- 
gress were  seeking  to  hide  herself,  the  woods 
in  themselves  formed  an  eerie  protection.  The 
path  turned  sharply  to  the  right  just  beyond 
the  tree  and  Forrester  had  gone  only  a  few  yards 
when  he  was  startled  to  find  himself  unex- 
pectedly in  front  of  her  cottage.  He  had 
supposed  the  place  to  be  more  deeply  buried  in 
the  woods,  and  this  precipitant  arrival  at  her 
door  impressed  Forrester  at  once  with  the  ne- 
gress' accusatory  proximity  to  the  oak  tree.  A 
savage  snarl  greeted  Forrester  as  he  stepped 
into  the  small  clearing  in  front  of  the  house 
and  he  saw  a  half-breed  dog  facing  him  with 
teeth  bared  and  hair  bristling.  Forrester  spoke 
soothingly  to  the  animal  but  the  sound  of  his 
voice  seemed  only  to  enrage  it  the  more  and  it 


ii2  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

barked  loudly.  He  hastily  glanced  about  for 
a  club  with  which  to  defend  himself  in  case  the 
beast  should  attempt  to  attack  him.  Just  at 
this  moment,  however,  the  cottage  door  opened 
and  the  negress  stood  in  the  doorway.  She  was 
tall  and  thin,  with  wiry,  jet-black  hair  that  con- 
trasted strangely  with  the  sickly  yellow  of  her 
skin.  Her  eyelids  drooped  and  at  first  For- 
rester thought  she  was  squinting  at  him,  but  as 
he  discovered  later,  this  was  a  natural  affection 
of  the  eyelids.  It  gave  her  a  peculiarly  sinister 
look  and  Forrester  felt  an  aversion  for  her  the 
moment  she  appeared  in  the  doorway.  She 
stood  with  her  hands  on  her  hips  and  silently 
looked  him  over. 

"  How  do  you  do,"  said  Forrester. 

"  Good  af  ternoon,"  she  returned,  sullenly, 
her  voice  deep  and  harsh. 

"Would  you  mind  calling  off  that  dog?" 
requested  Forrester.  "  I  want  to  have  a  chat 
with  you." 

"About  what?"  she  asked. 

"  Oh,  about  yourself,  and  the  oak  tree,  and 
what  has  been  going  on  there  lately." 

"I  don't  know  anything  about  it!"  she 
snapped. 

"  Pm  sorry,"  said  Forrester.  "  I  thought 
perhaps  you  would  know  something  about  it." 


LUCY  113 

"What  made  you  think  that?"  she  de- 
manded. 

Forrester  immediately  fell  into  Humphrey's 
manner  so  far  as  he  could  recollect  it.  "  I'm 
a  reporter  for  the  Times"  he  explained.  "  I 
have  been  assigned  to  write  up  a  special  feature 
article  for  next  Sunday's  edition  about  this  tree 
that  the  c  Friends  of  the  Poor '  have  been  using, 
and  the  neighborhood.  While  scouting  around 
I  just  now  happened  to  discover  your  cottage. 
Naturally,  it  occurred  to  me  that  anyone  living 
so  near  to  the  oak  tree  might  know  something 
about  it." 

There  is  a  certain  glamour  and  attraction  con- 
nected with  reporters,  newspapers  and  special 
interviews  which  appears  to  appeal  to  persons  in 
all  stations  of  life.  Forrester  observed  that  his 
remarks  had  had  a  very  softening  effect  upon 
the  negress.  She  regarded  him  thoughtfully 
for  a  moment,  then  turned  and  administered 
a  kick  to  the  dog. 

"  Get  out!  "  she  cried,  and  as  the  beast  slunk 
off  into  the  woods  she  turned  to  Forrester. 
"  Come  in,"  she  invited. 

Forrester  had  observed  that  though  the 
woman's  voice  was  monotonous  and  expression- 
less in  character,  she  used  excellent  English, 


ii4  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

without  a  trace  of  negro  dialect.  In  her  pro- 
nunciation, however,  the  slight  accent  peculiar 
to  West  Indian  negroes  was  noticeable.  Before 
the  door  had  been  opened  Forrester  had  also 
noted  that  the  cottage  was  a  small  one-story 
affair  and  as  he  now  passed  through  the  door 
he  marked  a  partition,  with  a  doorway,  running 
across  the  center,  and  concluded  that  the  in- 
terior of  the  cottage  was  divided  into  two  rooms. 
As  the  negress  closed  the  door  behind  him  For- 
rester quickly  scanned  the  room  into  which  he 
had  been  ushered.  This  was  about  twelve  by 
fifteen  feet,  and  quite  obviously  served  as  both 
kitchen  and  sitting  room.  A  small  iron  cook- 
stove  stood  in  one  corner,  a  table  occupied  the 
center  of  the  room,  and  a  rocking  chair  and  two 
straight-backed  chairs  of  ancient  design  com- 
pleted the  furnishings.  On  a  small  stand  in 
the  window  next  to  the  entrance  door  stood  an 
old  glass  aquarium,  covered  with  wire  netting. 
It  contained  no  water,  however,  and  Forrester 
discovered  several  small  snakes  slowly  coiling 
themselves  around  on  the  gravel  in  the  bottom. 
It  instantly  recalled  to  his  mind  that  the  Voodoo 
worshippers  of  the  West  Indies  used  snakes  in 
their  ceremonies. 

The  woman  crossed  the  room  and  seated  her- 


LUCY  115 

self  in  the  rocking  chair,  but  did  not  invite  For- 
rester to  sit  down.  He  selected  one  of  the 
straight-backed  chairs,  pulled  it  up  to  the  table, 
and  as  he  sat  down  drew  out  his  notebook  and 
spread  it  open  on  the  table  in  an  ostentatious 
manner  that  could  not  fail  to  impress  the 
woman. 

"  What  is  your  name?"  he  inquired. 

"  Lucy." 

"Lucy  what?" 

"  That's  all  —  just  Lucy." 

"  You've  lived  around  here  for  some  time,  I 
suppose?"  asked  Forrester. 

"  About  two  years,"  she  replied. 

"  Have  you  a  husband?  "  he  queried,  glanc- 
ing about  the  room  as  if  he  expected  to  see  a 
man  in  some  corner. 

"  I  did  have,"  she  said,  "  but  he  ran  away 
soon  after  we  moved  in  here." 

"  Too  bad  —  too  bad,"  sympathized  For- 
rester, as  he  made  some  notes  in  his  book. 
Then  he  added,  "  Now,  what  can  you  tell  me 
about  the  goings-on  at  this  tree?" 

"  What  do  you  want  to  know?" 

"  Well,  frankly,"  said  Forrester,  "  I  haven't 
a  very  clear  idea  of  what  I  do  want  to  know. 
You  see,  that's  just  what  I  came  to  you  about. 


n6  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

I  thought  perhaps  you  could  tell  me  something 
regarding  what  was  going  on  here.  Have 
you  ever  seen  any  of  the  men  who  make  use  of 
that  tree?" 

"  No,"  she  declared,  "  and  no  one  ever 
will." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?"  queried 
Forrester. 

"No  men  ever  come  near  that  tree  —  just 
ghosts.  It's  haunted ! " 

Forrester  stared  for  a  moment.  It  was 
curious  how  all  these  people  agreed  on  that  one 
point.  He  could  understand  how  an  ignorant 
colored  man  could  have  his  superstitions 
aroused,  and  he  could  see  how  a  plain  man  like 
Green  might  be  tricked  j  but  it  was  hard  to 
believe  that  this  apparently  educated  colored 
woman,  living  for  two  years  within  the  shadow 
of  the  tree,  could  be  fooled.  This,  he  con- 
cluded, was  suspicious  circumstance  number 
one,  and  as  he  glanced  toward  the  snakes  in 
the  aquarium  he  strongly  suspected  that  if  she 
were  willing,  the  negress  could  give  him  some 
inside  facts  regarding  the  manifestations  at 
the  tree. 

"What  do  you  keep  those  snakes  for?"  he 
asked,  suddenly. 


LUCY  117 

"  They're  part  of  my  religion,"  she  returned. 

"Don't  you  go  to  church?"  inquired 
Forrester. 

"  Not  the  church  these  niggers  around  here 
go  to,"  she  sneered.  "  I  worship  in  my  own 
way." 

Forrester  did  not  venture  to  question  her 
further  on  this  point,  for  he  had  read  enough 
regarding  the  Voodoo  worship  to  know  that  they 
were  extremely  reticent  in  describing  their 
ceremonies.  The  possession  of  the  snakes 
suggested  to  Forrester  that  this  woman  might 
even  be  a  priestess  of  the  sect,  because  he  re- 
membered having  read  that  only  the  priests 
and  priestesses  were  accustomed  to  using  snakes 
in  their  ceremonies.  Another  thought  came  to 
Forrester  at  this  moment,  which  gave  him  a 
decided  start.  Voodoo  worshippers  had  been 
known  to  demand  human  sacrifices!  Was  he, 
after  all,  actually  discovering  clues  which  the 
detectives  had  overlooked? 

"  Well,"  he  went  on,  again  addressing  the 
negress,  "  if  there  are  ghosts  instead  of  men 
hanging  around  that  tree,  perhaps  you  can  tell 
me  something  about  what  they  do.  Pm  sure 
this  is  going  to  make  a  most  interesting  story 
for  my  paper." 


n8  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  I  have  never  seen  anything,"  explained 
Lucy,  "  but  sometimes  when  I  come  home  late 
at  night  I  hear  things." 

"  Such  as  • —  "  suggested  Forrester. 

"  Oh,  groans  and  sighs  —  rattling  chains  — 
and  sometimes  the  sound  of  a  bell." 

This  was  positive  confirmation  of  Green's 
story,  and  Forrester  pondered  before  asking  his 
next  question.  He  remembered  Joshua's  asser- 
tion that  he  had  plainly  heard  words,  so  he 
asked: 

"  Do  you  ever  hear  voices  saying  anything?" 

"  Nothing  distinctly.  Just  sighs  and  groans 
and  sounds  like  that,  as  if  somebody  were  in 
trouble." 

"  You  think,  then,"  said  Forrester,  "  that  it 
is  just  some  uneasy  soul  that  haunts  that  tree?" 

"  Yes,"  she  replied. 

"  But,"  protested  Forrester,  "  what  could  a 
ghost  want  with  good  United  States  money?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Lucy.  "  In  my 
worship  I  sometimes  commune  with  the  spirits, 
but  they  have  never  told  me  how  they  could 
use  money." 

"  Have  you  ever  tried  to  commune  with  this 
ghost?"  asked  Forrester. 

"  No,"  replied  Lucy.  "  I  don't  think  it 
belongs  to  my  people." 


LUCY  119 

"  Suppose  I  were  to  offer  you  a  good  sum  of 
money  to  try  to  communicate  with  it?" 
suggested  Forrester. 

"  I  don't  need  money,"  she  replied. 

"  Don't  you  have  to  work  for  a  living?" 

"  No." 

"  How  do  you  manage  to  live  then?" 

"  I  don't  need  money  to  live.     I  can  get  on." 

Forrester  glanced  around  the  room  once 
more.  The  cookstove  appeared  to  be  without  a 
fire  and  there  were  no  signs  of  food.  He  won- 
dered. 

Turning  again  to  Lucy,  Forrester  said, 
"  Strange  about  the  ghost  that  haunts  that  tree, 
Lucy.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  anyone  being 
murdered  around  here?" 

"  No,"  she  replied.  Then  added,  after  a 
slight  pause,  as  she  rose  and  walked  toward  the 
door,  "  Guess  you  have  found  out  all  I  can  tell 
you,  Mister.  You'd  better  go  now  —  before 
my  dog  comes  back." 

The  uncanny  atmosphere  of  the  place,  the 
nearby  snakes  in  their  glass  prison,  and  the  weird 
conversation  regarding  ghosts  and  singular 
forms  of  worship,  had  given  Forrester  a  very 
uncomfortable  feeling.  He  knew  now  why 
Green  had  temporarily  lost  his  nerve,  for  he  was 


120  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

quite  willing  to  take  the  woman's  undisguised 
hint  about  his  own  immediate  departure. 
Slipping  his  notebook  into  his  pocket  and  putting 
on  his  cap,  Forrester  thanked  her  for  the  inter- 
view and  hurriedly  passed  through  the  door, 
which  was  slammed  on  his  heels. 


CHAPTER   X 

CROSSED  THEORIES 

THE  LONG  drive  into  the  city  from  the 
North  Shore  delayed  Forrester  so  that  fre 
did  not  reach  the  Nevins'  home  until  the  funeral 
services  had  ended,  and  though  he  joined  the 
cortege  which  followed  the  remains  of  the 
banker  to  the  cemetery  he  did  not  have  an 
opportunity  to  speak  to  his  mother  about  the 
letter  which  the  girl  had  entrusted  to  him.  At 
dinner,  however,  he  passed  the  letter  across  the 
table  to  his  mother  with  the  remark: 

"  There's  a  note  I  was  requested  to  bring  to 
you  —  and  in  which  I  am  very  much 
interested." 

Mrs.  Forrester  withdrew  the  letter  from  its 
envelope,  adjusted  her  glasses  and  glanced  at 
the  writing.  Hastily  she  turned  to  the  signa- 
ture and  exclaimed,  "  Why,  it's  from  Helen!" 
Then,  turning  to  Josephine,  added,  "  You 
remember  Mrs.  Lewis,  my  dear.  Her  husband 
was  appointed  to  the  vice-presidency  of  a  New 


122  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

York  bank  about  two  years  ago.  She  wrote  to 
me  several  times  and  then  our  correspondence 
gradually  dropped  off.  I  was  thinking  of  her 
only  recently,  and  wondering  how  she  was 
getting  on  in  New  York." 

"  We  remember  her  perfectly,  Mother," 
broke  in  Forrester,  impatiently.  "  We  want  to 
know  what  the  letter  says." 

"  We!"  echoed  Josephine,  surprised.  "  Pm 
sure  Pm  not  especially  interested." 

Mrs.  Forrester  glanced  through  the  note. 
"  It  is  a  letter  of  introduction,"  she  explained, 
looking  over  her  glasses  at  Forrester.  "  How 
odd!  Helen  asks  me  to  do  what  I  can  to  make 
Miss  Mary  Sturtevant's  stay  in  Chicago  a 
pleasant  one.  Strange  that  she  did  not  write 
me  directly." 

"  Oh,"  breathed  Josephine,  smiling  wisely  at 
Forrester. 

"Does  she  say  who  Miss  Sturtevant  is?" 
queried  Forrester. 

"  The  daughter  of  some  very  dear  friends  of 
Helen's.  The  Sturtevants  are  an  old  New 
York  family,  she  says.  Pm  quite  sure  that  I 
have  heard  of  them." 

"May  I  be  permitted  to  inquire,"  said  Jose- 
phine, roguishly,  "  how  Mr.  Robert  Forrester 


CROSSED   THEORIES  123 

came  to  be  the  bearer  of  this  note,  and  where  - 
from  springs  his  intense  interest?" 

Forrester  colored,  then  frowned  severely 
upon  his  sister. 

"  I  met  the  young  lady  through  an  accident 
this  morning.  When  she  learned  who  I  was 
she  asked  me  to  bring  this  letter  to  you.  She 
had  intended  presenting  it  in  person,  but  learned 
after  arriving  that  we  would  not  be  moving  to 
1  Woodmere  J  for  some  days." 

"My!  What  a  simple  and  straightforward 
explanation,"  smiled  Josephine.  "  Why  not 
tell  us  all  about  it,  Bob?" 

Forrester  scowled  at  his  sister,  and  sipped 
from  his  water  glass  to  gain  time  to  collect  his 
thoughts.  He  was  not  sure  at  this  time  just 
how  much  he  ought  to  tell.  He  set  the  glass 
down  and  briefly  related  how  his  car  had 
frightened  the  girl's  horse,  leaving  it  to  be 
assumed  that  she  had  at  that  time  given  him  the 
letter. 

"  What  an  extraordinary  coincidence ! "  ex- 
claimed Mrs.  Forrester.  At  that  moment  her 
attention  was  distracted  by  a  question  from  the 
maid,  and  Josephine,  leaning  toward  Forrester, 
whispered,  "  Some  time  I  want  to  hear  the  whole 
story,  Bob.  It's  so  romantic!" 


124  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

Happily  for  Forrester's  peace  of  mind  the 
conversation  drifted  to  other  things,  and  as  soon 
as  dinner  was  over  he  hurried  to  his  favorite 
corner  in  the  library.  He  wanted  to  think, 
not  alone  of  Mary  Sturtevant  and  her  vague 
connection  with  the  mystery,  but  of  the  negress, 
Lucy,  and  the  perplexing  new  aspect  she  had 
given  to  the  case.  There  seemed  no  apparent 
alliance  between  the  two,  yet  both  were 
strangely,  though  obscurely,  associated  with  it. 
Forrester  had  no  sooner  lighted  his  pipe, 
however,  when  the  door-bell  rang,  and  a 
moment  later  a  servant  announced  that  two  men 
wished  to  see  him.  For  an  instant  he  was 
startled,  yet  it  did  not  seem  likely  that  the 
"  Friends  of  the  Poor  "  would  approach  him 
in  this  open  way. 

"  Did  they  give  any  names?"  he  asked. 

"  No,  just  said  they  were  from  the  police 
department,  sir,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Oh ! "  exclaimed  Forrester,  relieved. 
"  Send  them  in." 

Two  heavily  built  men  entered  the  room. 
They  were  strikingly  alike  in  their  general 
appearance  j  tall,  broad  shouldered,  with  big 
feet,  large  hands,  and  smooth-shaven,  plump, 
ruddy  faces.  Forrester  thought  as  he  looked 


CROSSED    THEORIES  125 

at  them  that  there  was  small  wonder  so  many 
criminals  escaped.  The  average  city  detective 
was  a  type!  Easily  recognized  and  therefore 
readily  avoided. 

"  Is  this  Mr.  Forrester?"  inquired  one  of 
the  men. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Forrester,  as  he  rose  from 
his  chair. 

"  Well,"  continued  the  man,  "  my  name's 
Cahill,  and  this  is  my  partner,  Detective 
Sergeant  O'Connor.  We  come  from  the  detec- 
tive bureau." 

"  I'm  glad  to  know  you  both,"  returned  For- 
rester, smiling.  "  Sit  down,  please,"  and  he 
indicated  nearby  chairs.  The  two  detectives 
seated  themselves  and  Forrester  passed  the 
humidor  before  returning  to  his  chair.  The 
three  men  puffed  their  cigars  in  silence  for  a 
time,  the  detectives  evidently  enjoying  the 
flavor  and  aroma  of  Forrester's  excellent 
cigars,  while  he  awaited  the  explanation  of  their 
visit. 

"  We  came  to  see  you  about  this  f  Friends  of 
the  Poor  '  matter,"  began  Cahill,  who  appeared 
to  be  the  spokesman  for  the  pair.  "  My  partner 
and  me  are  working  on  the  case." 

"  Making  any  progress?"  inquired  Forrester, 


126  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

fully  convinced  in  his  own  mind,  however,  that 
they  were  not. 

"  Well,  we  are,  and  we  arn't,"  answered 
Cahill.  "  You  see,  O'Connor  and  me  were  in 
the  police  auto  the  other  night  —  the  night  you 
tipped  us  off.  We're  both  some  shots,  and  we 
felt  pretty  sure  we  had  hit  that  car  we  were 
chasing.  So  we've  been  scouting  around  the 
West  Side  garages  looking  for  a  car  with  bullet 
holes." 

"  Why  the  West  Side?"  questioned  Forrester, 
inwardly  amused  as  he  thought  of  Humphrey's 
arraignment  of  the  detectives'  methods. 

Cahill  smiled  wisely  at  O'Connor,  and 
O'Connor  smiled  significantly  back  at  his 
partner. 

"  You  see,"  explained  Cahill,  "  we  know 
crooks'  ways  pretty  well.  When  anything  gets 
pulled  off  we  can  tell  from  the  method  used 
just  about  where  to  look  for  our  men.  We 
have  felt  pretty  sure  all  the  time  that  this  was 
some  Black  Hand  bunch  from  the  Dago  settle- 
ment on  the  West  Side.  It's  the  same  line  of 
approach.  The  only  difference  is  that  they're 
operating  a  little  higher  up  than  usual,  and 
choking  the  guys  off  quietly  with  some  kind  of 
gas,  instead  of  filling  them  full  of  lead  from 


CROSSED    THEORIES  127 

a  sawed-off  shotgun.  The  idea's  the  same,  only 
they're  getting  a  little  more  ambitious  —  that's 
all." 

"  And  about  the  car,"  prompted  Forrester, 
still  amused  at  the  trend  of  the  detectives' 
theories. 

"  That's  just  the  point,"  continued  Cahill. 
"  Today  we  located  a  car  with  half  a  dozen 
bullet  holes  in  the  back  in  a  garage  out  on 
Grand  Avenue.  Grand  Avenue,  you  know,  is 
full  of  Dagos  all  the  way  from  the  river.  The 
garage  man  said  it  was  left  there  late  Tuesday 
night  by  three  young  Italians.  Now,  do  you 
get  the  idea?" 

Forrester  did,  and  he  was  astounded  at  the 
news. 

"  You  mean,"  he  queried,  "  that  you  ascribe 
this  whole  affair  to  some  West  Side  Black  Hand 
band,  and  that  this  car  proves  your  theory?" 

"  Sure  thing! "  assented  Cahill.  "  O'Connor 
and  me  have  been  working  on  this  case  for 
months.  Sometimes  we  thought  we  had  a  clue, 
and  then  again  we  didn't.  We  have  suspected 
Black  Handers  from  the  first,  but  we  couldn't 
exactly  get  a  line  on  them.  That  tip  you  gave 
us  Tuesday  night  started  things  right.  Now  we 
know  where  we're  at.  There's  three  detectives 


128  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

in  overalls  in  that  garage  right  now,  and  if 
those  guys  come  back  for  their  car  the  whole 
thing'll  be  cleared  up  in  a  jiffy." 

"  What  makes  you  think  that  this  is  the  car 
you  wanted?"  persisted  Forrester,  still  doubting 
the  correctness  of  the  detectives'  theories. 

"  Headquarters  has  no  report  of  any  other 
car  being  shot  at  by  the  police.  And  this  car 
was  left  late  Tuesday  night.  Get  the  idea?  J: 

Forrester  pulled  reflectively  at  his  cigar.  He 
was  overwhelmed.  The  suspicions  he  had 
entertained  regarding  the  weird  negress,  the 
girl  on  the  horse  and  her  colored  servant,  were 
knocked  flat.  The  half-formed  theories  he  had 
been  building  up  around  them  were  completely 
shattered.  The  growing  pride  he  had  felt  in 
his  own  detective  talents  was  crushed,  and  the 
discoveries  in  which  he  had  exulted  were 
rendered  valueless.  After  all,  the  hard-headed, 
plodding,  unimaginative  city  detectives  knew 
their  business  best.  There  was  really  no 
mystery  or  romance  to  crime  j  no  clever  men 
pitting  their  brains  against  those  of  astute 
detectives.  The  criminal  class  was  nothing 
more  than  the  police  claimed  it  to  be  — -just  a 
stunted,  unnatural,  evil-smelling  plant,  with  its 
roots  buried  deep  in  the  sordid,  filthy  dives  and 


CROSSED    THEORIES  129 

foreign  settlements  of  the  West  Side.  For- 
rester was  disappointed  j  deeply  disappointed. 
In  spite  of  the  danger,  worry  and  uncertainty, 
the  thing  had  gotten  into  his  blood  during  the 
last  few  days.  It  had  fired  his  imagination, 
stirred  his  latent  energies,  and  awakened  his 
brain.  And  now  the  whole  elaborate  structure 
which  had  been  slowly  building  up  toward  the 
skies  collapsed  in  one  moment  to  reveal  nothing 
save  a  few  murderous  thugs  concealed  in  the 
cellar. 

Forrester  heaved  a  sigh. 

"  Relieved,  eh?"  chuckled  Cahill.  "Thought 
the  police  were  no  good,  and  that  you  had  to 
kiss  ten  thousand  bucks  good-by?" 

Forrester  laughed.  Now  the  humor  of  the 
situation  struck  him.  Green's  long  study  of 
the  problem,  his  careful  tabulation  of  informa- 
tion and  secretly  developed  theories,  were  in  the 
same  class  with  Humphrey's  suggested  scien- 
tific solution,  and  Forrester's  own  investigations 
and  conjectures.  No  wonder  the  Chief  of 
Detectives  had  said,  "  Novices  only  hamper 
us." 

"  No,"  explained  Forrester,  in  answer  to 
Cahill's  comment,  "  I  hadn't  exactly  lost  faith 
in  the  police.  But  I  will  say  this:  I  have 


i3o  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

recently  made  some  peculiar  and  interesting 
discoveries  on  my  own  account,  and  now  you 
have  practically  knocked  the  foundation  from 
under  them  with  your  very  matter  of  fact  solu- 
tion of  the  mystery." 

"  We  ain't  solved  it  yet,  remember,"  objected 
Cahill.  "  We've  simply  got  a  line  on  the  right 
people,  and  in  due  time  we'll  get  our  hands 
on  them.  We  may  still  have  to  ask  you  to  help 
us.  That's  what  we  dropped  in  for  this 
evening." 

"  What  do  you  want  me  to  do? "  asked 
Forrester. 

"  Well,  you  see  it's  this  way,."  explained 
Cahill.  "If  those  Dagos  come  back  to  the 
garage  between  now  and  Saturday,  we'll  have 
them.  But  if  they  get  wise  that  we  found  the 
car,  they  may  chuck  it  and  steal  another  one. 
In  that  case  we'll  sure  get  them  at  the  oak  tree 
up  there  on  the  North  Shore  Saturday  night. 
What  we  want  you  to  do  is  to  put  that  money 
in  the  tree  at  the  time  we  tell  you  to,  so  that  we 
will  be  ready." 

"  But  nobody  has  ever  succeeded  in  locating 
these  people  at  the  tree,"  protested  Forrester. 

"  I  know,"  admitted  Cahill,  grinning,  "  but 
O'Connor  and  me  have  worked  out  a  plan.  We 


CROSSED    THEORIES  131 

figure  that  in  the  past  these  guys  have  been  able 
to  slip  in  between  the  detectives  on  watch. 
You  see,  it's  pretty  dark  in  those  woods  at  night. 
Our  plan  is  going  to  put  a  stop  to  that.  It's 
like  this: 

"  We're  going  to  put  a  peg  in  the  ground  on 
each  side  of  the  tree,  back  and  front.  O'Connor 
will  be  on  one  side  and  me  on  the  other. 
There'll  be  a  string  from  each  peg  running  to 
O'Connor,  and  the  same  thing  on  the  other 
side  to  me.  We'll  hold  these  strings,  one  in 
each  hand.  Now,  that  completely  surrounds 
the  tree,  so  that  anyone  approaching  will  kick 
into  a  string.  We'll  know  from  the  hand  the 
string's  in  just  what  direction  to  look  for  them 
in  the  dark.  O'Connor's  strings  will  be  A 
and  B,  and  mine  will  be  C  and  D.  Get  the 
idea? 

"If  O'Connor  feels  a  tug,  he'll  yell  A  or  B 
at  me.  If  I  get  a  feel  on  one  of  my  strings 
I'll  holler  C  or  D.  Get  me?  Then  we'll  both 
make  a  rush  at  just  the  right  spot.  Believe  me, 
Mr.  Forrester,  we  got  them  this  time.  No 
sneaking  up  between  detectives  next  Saturday 
night." 

"  The  idea  sounds  very  good,  Cahill," 
agreed  Forrester.  "  Perhaps  it  will  work.  If 


132  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

I  don't  hear  from  you  in  the  meantime,  what 
hour  do  you  wish  me  to  approach  the  tree  on 
Saturday  night?" 

"  We've  fixed  on  ten-thirty,  if  that  is  con- 
venient for  you,  Mr.  Forrester,"  answered 
Cahill. 

"  That  suits  me,"  declared  Forrester. 

"  And  now,  we'll  be  going,"  announced 
Cahill,  rising.  "  Thanks  for  the  cigar.  As 
fine  a  smoke  as  I've  had  in  a  long  time." 

"  Bang  up,"  murmured  O'Connor. 

"  Take  another  along,"  suggested  Forrester, 
accepting  the  hint. 

The  two  detectives  each  carefully  selected 
another  cigar,  and  then  Forrester  went  with 
them  to  the  door. 

"  What  will  you  do  if  the  ghosts  supposed 
to  haunt  that  tree  should  appear?"  inquired 
Forrester. 

"  You  don't  believe  that  stuff,  do  you,  Mr. 
Forrester? "  asked  Cahill,  scornfully. 

"  Well,  several  people,  unknown  to  one 
another,  have  agreed  on  the  details." 

Cahill  smiled.  "  Maybe  so,"  he  said,  "  but 
don't  forget  that  O'Connor  and  me  can.  shoot, 
Mr.  Forrester.  We  can  lay  out  any  ghost  that 
ever  ghosted." 


CROSSED    THEORIES  133 

"  You  certainly  have  my  best  wishes  for  your 
success,"  said  Forrester. 

"  Don't  worry  any  more,"  assured  Cahill,  as 
he  passed  out.  "  The  police  have  got  this  gang 
dead  to  rights  this  time.  Saturday  night  will 
end  it!" 


CHAPTER   XI 

TELEPHONE  CALLS 

SON,"  said    Mrs.    Forrester    at    breakfast 
Friday  morning,  "  Josephine  and  I   have 
changed  our  minds." 

"  About  what?"  prompted  Forrester. 

"  We  are  moving  out  to  '  Woodmere '  late 
today  instead  of  tomorrow  morning.  The 
Prentices  are  giving  a  dinner  dance,  the  first 
of  the  summer  season,  Saturday  evening.  If 
we  moved  tomorrow  we  would  be  too  tired  and 
upset  to  attend.  We  do  not  want  to  disappoint 
the  Prentices,  especially  as  we  understand  the 
affair  is  given  to  introduce  Miss  Sturtevant." 

"Does  she  know  the  Prentices?"  exclaimed 
Forrester. 

"  Only  through  a  letter  of  introduction,  I 
believe,"  explained  Mrs.  Forrester. 

"  Of  course,  you  will  be  there,  Bob,  now  that 
you  know  who  will  be  the  principal  guest," 
laughed  Josephine. 

"  I  haven't  received  an  invitation,"  returned 
Forrester,  gravely. 

134 


TELEPHONE    CALLS  135 

"  Oh,  the  affair  is  quite  informal,"  declared 
Mrs.  Forrester.  "  All  the  invitations  were  ex- 
tended over  the  telephone,  because  it  was  only 
decided  upon  at  the  last  moment.  Mrs. 
Prentice  told  me  to  be  sure  to  see  that  you 
came.  She  wants  you  to  meet  Miss  Sturte- 
vant." 

"  Not  realizing  that  Bob  was  such  a  forward 
young  man  and  attended  to  his  own  intro- 
ductions," interjected  Josephine. 

"  That  was  only  an  accidental  meeting, 
Josephine,"  protested  Mrs.  Forrester.  "  They 
had  no  opportunity  to  get  really  acquainted." 

"  I  wonder?"  said  Josephine,  with  a  side 
glance  at  Forrester.  Then  added,  "  Of  course, 
Mrs.  Prentice  does  not  realize  what  a  rival  Miss 
Sturtevant  will  be  for  Diana." 

Forrester  glared  at  Josephine.  Until  she 
had  taken  up  his  recent  meeting  with  Mary 
Sturtevant,  it  had  been  her  custom  to  tease  him 
about  Diana,  Prentice's  daughter.  Josephine 
had  professed  to  believe  that  a  genuinely  serious 
affair  was  developing,  at  least  on  Diana's  part. 

"  Josephine,"  remonstrated  Mrs  Forrester, 
"  you  must  not  make  light  of  Bob's  interest  in 
Diana.  I  should  be  most  pleased  to  see  Bob 
select  her  as  his  life's  partner.  Miss  Sturtevant 


136  THE    SECRET    TOLL 

is  here  only  for  a  brief  visit,  and  they  have  met 
but  once;  simply  by  chance.  One  cannot  be  so 
much  attracted  to  a  chance  acquaintance  as  to 
one  who  has  been  a  friend  since  childhood." 

"  Very  wisely  spoken,  Mother,"  approved 
Forrester,  with  a  triumphant  look  at  Josephine. 

"  I  am  satisfied  to  await  the  developments  of 
Saturday  evening,"  returned  Josephine,  and 
finished  her  breakfast  in  silence,  while  his 
mother  explained  to  Forrester  the  details  of  the 
day's  plans. 

The  knowledge  that  the  solution  of  the  case 
was  now  practically  out  of  his  hands  left  For- 
rester with  a  sensation  of  loss.  Never  before 
had  he  felt  so  thoroughly  bereft  of  an  object 
in  life.  He  rather  welcomed,  therefore,  the 
information  that  the  household  moving  would 
take  place  on  Friday  instead  of  Saturday  as 
originally  planned.  Throughout  the  morning 
he  was  busily  engaged  in  assisting  his  mother 
and  sister  to  pack,  in  the  securing  of  a  motor 
truck  to  carry  their  trunks  and  bags,  and  the 
various  other  little  details  connected  with  the 
removal  of  the  household  for  the  summer  sea- 
son. 

Shortly  after  luncheon  his  mother,  sister  and 
the  servants  left  in  the  big  car.  It  was  a  dark, 


TELEPHONE    CALLS  137 

gray  day  with  low-hanging  clouds  and  a  chill 
wind  blowing  off  the  lake.  As  Forrester  stood 
by  the  curb  watching  the  car  disappear  down  the 
street,  he  found  that  a  light,  misty  rain  was 
falling.  The  weather  affected  him  strongly 
under  the  circumstances  and  he  returned  to  the 
house  with  a  feeling  of  depression.  Forrester 
seemed  to  find  something  sinister  about  the 
deserted  house.  The  closing  of  the  front  door 
behind  him  echoed  through  the  lonely  rooms, 
and  the  thud  of  his  feet  was  uncannily  loud  as 
he  passed  down  the  hall  to  the  library. 

Forrester  laughed,  shook  himself  and  hunted 
up  his  pipe. 

"  The  truth  is,"  he  said,  aloud,  as  the  tobacco 
glowed  under  the  match,  "  my  nerves  are 
getting  ragged." 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  detectives  had 
assured  him  that  the  solution  of  the  mystery 
was  close  at  hand  Forrester  could  not  fully 
convince  himself  that  the  matter  was  to  be 
settled  in  so  commonplace  a  way.  The  dis- 
coveries which  he  had  made  must  surely  possess 
some  significance.  It  did  not  seem  possible 
that  a  band  of  West  Side  Italians,  far  away  from 
the  oak  tree  on  the  North  Shore,  could  be  back 
of  the  so-called  ghostly  manifestations  of  which 


I38  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

he  had  heard  so  many  rumors,  and  which  Green 
claimed  to  have  actually  witnessed.  If  these 
apparitions  had  no  connection  with  the  "  Friends 
of  the  Poor,"  then  what  was  their  purpose? 

Busily  engaged  in  his  amateur  detective  work, 
and  full  of  a  certain  confidence  in  his  own 
ability,  Forrester  had  half  expected  to  solve,  in 
a  few  days,  a  mystery  that  had  baffled  ex- 
perienced detectives  for  a  year.  Now,  with 
the  final  reckoning  only  one  day  away,  he  real- 
ized that  he  had  made  practically  no  progress, 
except,  perhaps,  to  increase  the  scope  of  the 
mystery.  Possibly  the  fact  that  he  felt  himself 
free  to  come  and  go  in  comparative  safety  until 
Saturday  had  blurred  his  view  of  the  future. 
Here  in  the  still,  deserted  house,  however,  the 
misgivings  that  had  been  dormant  beneath  his 
energetic  efforts  to  solve  the  problem,  now  came 
to  the  surface.  The  partial  doubt  which  he  had 
felt  the  previous  evening  in  respect  to  the  detec- 
tives' theories,  now  reasserted  itself  with 
increased  force. 

While  his  own  theories  were  mere  chimerical 
pictures,  based  upon  a  fanciful  explanation  of 
the  peculiar  facts  he  had  unearthed,  Forrester 
nevertheless  had  a  feeling  that  they  possessed 
more  real  substance  than  was  apparent  at  the 


TELEPHONE    CALLS  139 

present  time.  Again  Forrester  laughed  and 
tried  to  shift  his  thoughts  to  the  seemingly  more 
logical  and  matter  of  fact  deductions  of  the 
detectives. 

During  these  meditations  he  had  been  pacing 
the  library  floor,  several  times  refilling  his  pipe. 
Now  he  went  to  the  fireplace  and  lit  the  gas 
logs  in  an  effort  to  dispel  the  chilly,  gloomy 
atmosphere  that  pervaded  the  room.  He  drew 
a  chair  up  to  the  fireplace  and  sought  more 
cheerful  thoughts  in  recollections  of  Mary 
Sturtevant.  This  did  not  help.  Aside  from 
the  girl's  attractive  personality,  Forrester  could 
not  but  realize  that  it  was  the  faint  element 
of  mystery  that  seemed  to  surround  her  which 
had  stimulated  his  curiosity  and  thrown  a 
glamour  about  her  such  as  no  other  girl  of  his 
acquaintance  had  ever  possessed.  Yet  that  very 
element  of  mystery  was  a  disquieting  feature. 
In  spite  of  any  arguments  he  might  devise  to 
ease  his  own  mind,  Forrester  realized  that  if  he 
were  to  tell  the  men  at  the  detective  bureau  all 
the  details  of  his  acquaintance  with  Mary  Sturte- 
vant he  would  create  a  disagreeable  stir.  While 
the  peculiar  effect  of  her  sudden  appearance 
from  nowhere  had  been  partly  oifset  by  her 
letter  of  introduction  to  his  mother,  it  still 


i4o  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

remained  an  odd  coincidence  that  she  should 
select  a  home  so  near  the  blackmailers'  tree, 
and  in  addition  take  such  a  strong  interest  in 
the  tree  itself.  And  then  there  was  the  repri- 
mand which  Joshua  intimated  she  had  given  him 
for  talking  about  the  tree  to  a  stranger.  More- 
over, what  object  could  a  young  woman  of  her 
undoubted  social  position  have  in  leaving  her 
family  in  the  East  and  renting  a  big  house  in  a 
Chicago  suburb  with  only  a  paid  companion? 

It  was  no  use.  In  whatever  direction  he 
turned  his  thoughts  Forrester's  mind  reverted 
to  the  mystery  of  the  "  Friends  of  the  Poor." 
Glancing  at  his  watch,  he  found  that  these 
thoughts  and  speculations  had  consumed  a  large 
part  of  the  afternoon  and  he  decided  to  get  away 
from  the  dreary  surroundings  and  gloomy 
inspirations  of  the  empty  house  by  going  out  to 
dinner. 

The  slight  drizzle  of  the  afternoon  had 
increased  to  a  heavy  downpour  of  rain  which 
beat  loudly  on  the  windows,  while  a  strong  east 
wind  roared  about  the  house.  The  inclemency 
of  the  weather  increased  the  feeling  of  loneli- 
ness and  isolation  which  had  seized  upon  For- 
rester since  the  departure  of  his  family.  He 


TELEPHONE    CALLS  141 

sprang  up,  therefore,  with  a  sensation  of  pleased 
anticipation  when  the  door-bell  rang,  but 
paused  immediately  to  reconsider  his  action. 

Most  of  his  friends  were  already  at  their 
summer  homes.  It  did  not  seem  likely  that 
even  the  few  stragglers  who  might  have  re- 
mained in  town  would  be  out  on  a  night  like  this. 
For  the  first  time  since  the  affair  started  For- 
rester felt  like  arming  himself.  He  opened  the 
drawer  of  the  library  table  and  took  out  a  revol- 
ver which  had  lain  there  unused  for  many  years, 
only  to  discover  that  it  was  unloaded,  and  as 
he  could  think  of  no  place  where  he  might  find 
the  necessary  cartridges  for  it,  the  weapon  was 
useless.  He  reasoned,  however,  that  its  appear- 
ance in  his  hand  might  in  itself  be  a  partial 
protection,  so  with  the  revolver  apparently 
ready  for  instant  use,  Forrester  went  to  the  front 
door  and  opened  it. 

No  one  was  there,  and  the  street  lay  ap- 
parently deserted  in  the  driving  rain. 

It  was  a  strange  incident  and  when  Forrester 
returned  to  the  library  he  wondered  whether 
it  was  a  wise  step  for  him  to  remain  alone  in  the 
house  that  night.  He  was  still  debating  the 
question  when  a  half-hour  later  the  telephone 
bell  rang.  Picking  up  the  receiver  Forrester 


1 42  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

was  relieved  to  recognize  the  voice  of  Prentice 
on  the  wire. 

"  I  called  at  your  house  a  little  while  ago," 
apprised  Prentice,  "  and  was  alarmed  that  the 
door-bell  was  not  answered.  After  thinking  it 
over  I  decided  to  phone  you." 

"  There  is  no  one  here  but  myself,"  replied 
Forrester.  "  The  folks  moved  to  '  Wood- 
mere  J  today.  I  stayed  in  town  because  I  have 
a  little  job  to  attend  to  in  the  morning.  That 
must  have  been  you  who  rang  the  bell  about  a 
half-hour  ago.  I  did  answer  the  bell  —  and 
was  amazed  when  I  found  there  was  no  one  at 
the  door." 

"  You  took  a  thundering  long  time  to 
answer,"  said  Prentice.  "  It  seemed  to  me  that 
I  stood  a  long  time  in  the  rain.  I  am  at  the 
Drake  hotel  now.  My  car  is  handy  and  I  will 
be  over  in  a  couple  of  minutes." 

"  All  right,"  replied  Forrester,  "  I  will  be 
watching  for  you." 

Hanging  up  the  receiver,  Forrester  went  to 
one  of  the  front  windows  and  took  up  his 
promised  watch.  The  car  arrived  promptly  and 
Forrester  opened  the  door.  Prentice  hung  up 
his  hat  and  raincoat  in  the  hall  and  Forrester 
led  the  way  to  the  library. 


TELEPHONE    CALLS  143 

"  The  house  looks  dark  and  dismal,"  com- 
mented Prentice,  as  he  seated  himself  and  drew 
out  a  cigar.  "  Why  don't  you  turn  on  more 
lights?" 

"  It  did  seem  a  bit  lonesome  before  you 
came,"  admitted  Forrester.  "  I  don't  believe 
more  light  would  help.  To  me  it  would  simply 
emphasize  how  large  and  deserted  the  house 
is  at  this  moment.  How  do  you  happen  to  be 
in  town  on  a  night  like  this?" 

"  We  expected  friends  from  Rockf ord," 
explained  Prentice,  "  to  stay  with  us  over  the 
week  end.  You  know  we  are  giving  a  dinner 
tomorrow  evening." 

Forrester  nodded. 

"  I  stayed  in  town  to  meet  them,"  continued 
Prentice.  "  When  they  did  not  arrive  and  I 
found  it  was  to  be  such  a  bad  night,  I  decided  to 
stay  at  the  club,  instead  of  going  home.  The 
time  was  dragging,  for  it  seemed  that  practically 
everyone  I  knew  had  left  town.  Then  I 
thought  of  you  and  concluded  I  would  run  up 
and  pay  you  a  little  visit." 

"  I  am  very  glad  you  did,"  approved  For- 
rester, "  for  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  I  miss 
the  family  now  that  they  have  gone." 

At  that  moment  the  telephone  bell  rang 
sharply. 


144  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  Looks  like  you  were  not  going  to  be  so 
lonely  after  all,"  observed  Prentice. 

Forrester  picked  up  the  receiver. 

"  Hello!"  said  a  man's  voice.  "Is  that  you, 
Mr.  Forrester?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Forrester. 

"  I  want  to  get  a  little  information," 
informed  the  voice.  "  I  believe  you  expect  to 
put  some  money  into  a  certain  tree  tomorrow 
night." 

"  Who  are  you?"  demanded  Forrester. 

"  That  is  of  no  immediate  importance," 
returned  the  voice.  "  What  I  wanted  was  to 
find  out  the  exact  time  at  which  you  intended  to 
place  the  money  in  that  tree." 

"  I  am  not  giving  any  information  to 
strangers,"  snapped  Forrester. 

"  I  am  sorry,"  returned  the  voice  in  a  con- 
ciliatory tone,  "  but  I  can't  give  you  any  par- 
ticulars at  this  time.  It  is  important,  however, 
that  I  know  at  what  hour  you  intend  to  visit 
the  tree." 

"  Better  call  up  the  detective  bureau,"  re- 
torted Forrester.  "  Good-by,"  and  he  hung  up 
the  receiver. 

Prentice  was  leaning  toward  Forrester  with  a 
puzzled  expression  on  his  face.  "  That  was  a 


TELEPHONE    CALLS  145 

peculiar  conversation,"  he  said.  "  May  I  ask 
what  it  was  about?" 

"  A  man  whose  voice  I  did  not  recognize," 
explained  Forrester,  "  was  trying  to  find  out  at 
what  hour  I  intended  to  place  that  extortion 
money  in  the  tree  tomorrow  night.  He  wanted 
his  information  without  giving  me  any." 

"  Strange,"  murmured  Prentice.  "  Perhaps 
it  was  a  newspaper  man  —  or  a  detective." 

"  No  need  for  them  to  disguise  their 
identity,"  asserted  Forrester.  "  I  certainly  have 
talked  freely  to  all  of  them." 

Prentice  sat  in  thoughtful  silence  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  Forrester  was  equally  absorbed  in 
trying  to  fathom  the  object  of  the  person  who 
had  called  him  up.  Their  thoughts  were 
interrupted  by  another  clamorous  ring  on  the 
telephone.  Again  a  man's  voice  came  over  the 
wire  when  Forrester  took  up  the  receiver.  This 
was  a  very  different  voice,  however j  coarse,  with 
a  slightly  foreign  accent,  and  rough  in  its 
address. 

"  That  you,  Forrester?"  asked  the  voice. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Forrester,  gruffly.  "  What 
do  you  want?" 

"  This  is  the  (  Friends  of  the  Poor ',  "  came 
back  over  the  wire. 


146  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

a<  Friends  of  the  Poor'!"  repeated  For- 
rester, astonished  and  Prentice  sat  up  suddenly 
in  his  chair. 

"Yes,"  affirmed  the  voice.  "We're  tired 
of  fooling  around  with  you  and  we  want  to 
know  something  definite." 

"  What  do  you  wish  to  know?"  inquired  For- 
rester, less  harshly. 

"  We  want  to  know  the  exact  hour  at  which 
you  will  put  the  money  in  the  tree  tomorrow 
night." 

Forrester  hesitated.  He  glanced  at  Pren- 
tice, who  was  leaning  toward  him,  an  interested 
listener,  and  reflected  whether  or  not  to  ask  his 
advice.  Forrester's  own  impulse  was  to  treat 
the  man  as  he  had  the  first  caller.  It  occurred 
to  him,  however,  that  if  this  man  really  did 
represent  the  "  Friends  of .  the  Poor,"  as  he 
claimed,  it  would  simplify  matters  for  the  detec- 
tives if  a  definite  hour  were  arranged.  He  re- 
membered Cahill's  instructions  to  approach  the 
tree  at  ten-thirty. 

"  I  had  planned  to  go  to  the  tree  about  ten- 
thirty,"  finally  announced  Forrester. 

"  That's  all  right,"  said  the  voice.  "  Be  sure 
you  make  it  ten-thirty  sharp  —  and  no  dicks, 
remember!"  The  wire  suddenly  became  dead 


TELEPHONE    CALLS  147 

as  the  man  at  the  other  end  hung  up  the 
receiver.  Forrester  hung  up  his  own  receiver 
and  turned  to  Prentice. 

"  What's  this  about  the  l  Friends  of  the 
Poor '?"  exclaimed  Prentice. 

"  That  man  said  he  represented  the  l  Friends 
of  the  Poor  ',"  replied  Forrester.  "  He  wanted 
me  to  give  him  the  exact  hour  at  which  I  would 
place  the  money  in  the  tree." 

"  That's  a  strange  proceeding,"  muttered 
Prentice. 

"Strange?"  queried  Forrester. 

"  That  they  should  take  the  risk  of  calling 
you  up  on  the  phone,"  explained  Prentice. 

"  Things  are  getting  rather  hot  for  them," 
declared  Forrester.  "  They  realize  it,  and 
probably  do  not  want  to  take  a  chance  by  staying 
near  the  tree  for  too  long  a  period.  The  man 
warned  me  not  to  have  any  detectives  at  hand." 

"  He  did!"  ejaculated  Prentice. 

There  followed  a  moment's  silence  while 
Prentice  relit  his  cigar. 

"  Tell  me,  Bob,"  he  requested,  at  length, 
"  have  you  made  any  definite  plans  about  tomor- 
row night?  " 

"  Yes,  I'm  coming  to  your  house  for  dinner 
for  one  thing,"  smiled  Forrester. 


148  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  You  know  what  I  mean,"  said  Prentice, 
seriously.  "  You  have  trifled  with  this  *  Friends 
of  the  Poor '  matter  long  enough.  What  have 
you  decided  to  do  —  are  you  going  to  pay  the 
money  or  fight?  " 

"  Both,"  answered  Forrester,  laughing.  He 
then  explained  to  Prentice  the  major  details  of 
his  own  and  the  detectives'  plans  for  Saturday 
night. 

"  And  you  mean  to  say,  Bob,"  gasped  Pren- 
tice, "  that  these  detectives  have  actually  located 
the  '  Friends  of  the  Poor '?  " 

"  Not  located  them,  exactly,"  returned  For- 
rester, "  but  they  have  a  very  strong  suspicion." 

"  Against  whom?  "  asked  Prentice. 

"  A  band  of  Italians  on  the  West  Side,"  di- 
vulged Forrester.  "  They  have  secured  what 
they  claim  to  be  certain  evidence  and  expect  to 
capture  the  men  at  the  tree  tomorrow  night." 

Prentice  smiled.  "  That's  not  the  first  time 
I've  heard  that  police  theory,"  he  declared. 
"  Still,  there  may  be  something  to  their  idea, 
after  all,  in  view  of  the  telephone  calls  you  re- 
ceived this  evening.  There  should  be  interest- 
ing developments  tomorrow  night.  But,  Bob," 
he  added,  "  take  my  advice  and  leave  this  matter 
entirely  in  the  detectives'  hands.  Don't  fail  in 


TELEPHONE    CALLS  149 

your  part  of  the  matter.  Place  your  money  in 
the  tree  at  the  hour  you  agreed  upon  and  then 
get  away  as  quickly  as  you  can." 

"  You  take  the  matter  too  seriously,"  ob- 
jected Forrester. 

"  And  you  don't  realize  how  serious  the  affair 
is,  Bob,"  asserted  Prentice.  "  The  claims  of 
these  detectives  have  given  you  too  much  confi- 
dence. Even  if  they  do  capture  some  men  to- 
morrow night,  there  may  be  others  of  the  band 
who  will  seek  revenge.  I  cannot  urge  you  too 
strongly  to  place  that  money  in  the  tree  and  as- 
sure your  own  safety.  The  history  of  the 
case  —  " 

Prentice  was  interrupted  by  the  ringing  of  the 
telephone  bell  once  more.  He  paused,  with  an 
astonished  look  on  his  face,  and  Forrester 
laughed. 

"  Unquestionably  my  busy  night,"  said  For- 
rester, as  he  picked  up  the  receiver. 

Forrester's  face  also  expressed  amazement,  as 
he  listened,  and  he  placed  one  hand  over  the 
transmitter  while  he  remarked  in  an  aside  to 
Prentice,  "  A  woman's  voice  this  time!  J:  Then, 
speaking  into  the  telephone,  he  said,  "  Yes,  this 
is  Mr.  Forrester." 

"  I  want  to  get  some  information,"  said  the 


150  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

woman's  voice,  "  that  is  vitally  important  to 
you.  I  must  know  at  what  hour  you  will  place 
the  money  in  the  tree  tomorrow  night." 

"  Who  are  you?  "  inquired  Forrester. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  that  now,"  replied  the 
voice,  "  but  let  me  assure  you  that  I  am  abso- 
lutely friendly  to  you.  It  is  chiefly  in  your  in- 
terest that  I  want  this  information." 

"  But,"  protested  Forrester,  "  it  is  a  matter 
in  which  I  cannot  be  too  free  in  furnishing  in- 
formation to  strangers." 

"  I  know,"  admitted  the  voice,  "  but  you'll 
have  to  trust  me  for  the  present." 

"  Are  you  a  lady  reporter?  "  asked  Forrester. 

"  No." 

"  Are  you  securing  the  information  for  a  re- 
porter? " 

"  No." 

"Are  you  connected  in  any  way  with  a  news- 
paper? " 

"  No." 

"  Are  you  a  lady  detective  then?  "  and  For- 
rester could  not  restrain  a  slight  laugh. 

"  It  is  useless  for  you  to  ask  questions," 
declared  the  voice.  "  I  am  asking  information 
—  not  giving  it." 

"  But  favors  beget  favors,"  protested  For- 
rester. 


TELEPHONE    CALLS  151 

"  You  are  not  doing  me  a  favor,"  returned 
the  woman.  "  This  is  in  your  own  interest." 

"  Well,  then,  if  you  insist,"  acceded  Forres- 
ter, "  I  will  take  the  risk  and  inform  you  that  I 
expect  to  visit  the  tree  at  ten-thirty  tomorrow 
night." 

"  Thank  you,"  was  the  reply,  and  the  receiver 
was  hastily  hung  up. 

"  I  don't  understand  these  telephone  calls  at 
all,"  said  Prentice.  "  What  do  you  make  of 
them,  Bob?  " 

"  I  fancy  your  first  idea  was  correct,"  re- 
turned Forrester.  "  It  is  my  opinion  that  these 
thick-headed  detectives  have  talked  too  freely  to 
the  newspaper  reporters  about  their  new  plan, 
and  that  we  are  simply  going  to  have  a  conven- 
tion of  the  press  at  the  tree  tomorrow  night." 

Prentice  laughed  heartily.  "  Perhaps  you  are 
right,  Bob,"  he  agreed.  "  If  I  had  not  had 
such  a  trying  experience  with  these  people  my- 
self, I  should  have  liked  to  be  a  spectator,  too. 
As  it  is,  I  imagine  it  will  be  safer  to  keep  out  of 
the  way.  And  now,"  he  added,  rising,  "  I  be- 
lieve I  would  better  go.  I  want  to  drive  out 
early  in  the  morning,  and  you,  too,  should  have 
a  good  night's  sleep." 

Forrester  accompanied  Prentice  to  the  door 


152  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

and  stood  until  he  saw  the  car  disappear  in  the 
rain  and  mist.  Then  he  returned  to  the  library. 
The  windows  still  rattled  under  the  lash  of  the 
wind  and  rain,  and  somewhere  far  up  in  the 
house  he  heard  a  door  slam. 

"  I  don't  think  I'll  do  much  sleeping  tonight," 
thought  Forrester,  and  crossing  to  the  library 
table,  lifted  the  lid  of  his  humidor  to  get  a  cigar. 
He  paused  with  a  startled  exclamation,  for  there 
before  him  lay  a  small  square  of  brown  wrap- 
ping paper.  On  it  he  recognized  the  crude  skull 
and  rough  hand-printing  of  the  "  Friends  of  the 
Poor."  The  words  stood  out  clearly  in  the  light 
shed  by  the  lamp  on  the  table.  He  read: 

Your  efforts  te  trace  us  are  known.  We 
'prefer  your  death  to  your  money  but  will 
overlook  your  activities  if  you  cease  them 
at  once  and  raise  amount  of  your  payment 
to  $25,000.  This  opportunity  ends  posi- 
tively at  midnight  Saturday. 

FRIENDS  OF  THE  POOR 


CHAPTER   XII 

SATURDAY 

WOODMERE,"  the  Forresters'  summer 
estate,  lay  between  Sheridan  Road  and 
the  lake.  The  house,  a  long,  two-storied  build- 
ing of  white  stucco,  with  green  shutters  and  a 
green  tile  roof,  looked  much  smaller  than  it 
really  was  because  of  the  many  great  trees  that 
towered  above  it.  On  the  lake  side  a  wide, 
paved  terrace  extended  the  length  of  the  house. 
A  short  stretch  of  lawn  spread  from  the  terrace 
to  the  edge  of  the  little  bluff  that  dropped  down 
to  a  sandy  beach.  On  the  edge  of  this  bluff 
stood  a  vine-clad  pergola,  furnished  with  com- 
fortable willow  chairs.  Here,  on  warm  summer 
days,  Forrester  liked  to  sit  with  his  pipe,  and  the 
ladies  brought  their  reading  and  fancy  work. 
From  the  pergola  one  had  a  wonderful  view  up 
and  down  the  shore  line,  while  the  great  lake 
stretched  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see.  Even  dur- 
ing the  sultry  days  of  midsummer  this  spot  was 
sure  to  pick  up  a  cooling  breeze. 
153 


154  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

Large  ornamental  gateways  stood  at  the  north 
and  south  ends,  and  from  these  a  wide  drive- 
way swung  in  a  crescent  shape  up  to  the  front 
door.  A  branch  drive  turned  off  at  the  south 
side  of  the  house  and  passing  the  end  of  the  ter- 
race wound  through  a  mass  of  shrubbery  to  the 
garage. 

Shortly  after  noon  on  Saturday  Forrester 
turned  his  car  in  at  the  south  gateway  and  drove 
to  the  garage.  The  doors  stood  wide  open,  and 
William,  the  family  chauffeur,  who  was  work- 
ing on  the  big  car,  came  out  to  take  charge  of 
Forrester's  roadster. 

"  I'm  glad  to  see  you  arrived  safe,  sir," 
William  greeted  Forrester.  "  The  ladies  were 
a  bit  worried  at  your  staying  alone  in  the  town 
house  last  night.  Stormed  dreadful  here,  sir." 

"  It  was  a  bad  night,  William,"  agreed  For- 
rester. "  But  that's  just  the  sort  of  night  to 
make  one  sleep  soundly.  Did  that  man,  Green, 
arrive?  " 

"  A  few  minutes  ago,  sir.  He's  up  in  his 
room  now. 

"  I'll  go  up,"  said  Forrester,  and  entering  a 
door  at  the  side  of  the  garage,  climbed  to  the 
chauffeur's  quarters.  Green  had  been  given  a 
cozy  room  overlooking  the  lake  and  Forrester 
found  him  in  the  midst  of  his  unpacking. 


SATURDAY  155 

"  Gee !  "  exclaimed  Green,  on  sighting  For- 
rester, "  I  hope  that  mystery  ain't  solved  all 
summer.  I  sure  like  this  here  room." 

"  The  mystery  will  be  solved  tonight,  I  be- 
lieve, Green." 

"  What!  "  gasped  Green.  "  Who's  got  the 
dope?  Not  them  city  dicks?  " 

"  You  guessed  it.  Drop  that  work  for 
awhile,  and  I'll  tell  you  the  whole  story.  Here, 
have  a  fresh  cigar,"  offered  Forrester,  catching 
sight  of  a  cold  and  much-chewed  cigar  end  in  the 
corner  of  Green's  mouth. 

The  two  men  sat  down  near  the  window  and 
lighted  their  cigars. 

"  An  amazing  lot  of  things  have  happened 
since  I  saw  you  on  Thursday,  Green,"  began 
Forrester.  "  For  a  time  I  thought  I  was  getting 
on  the  actual  trail  —  then  the  city  detectives 
called  Thursday  night  and  told  a  plausible  story 
that  knocked  all  the  props  from  under  my  theo- 
ries j  and  yours,  too,  for  the  matter  of  that." 

"Huh!  "  scoffed  Green. 

"  I  know  how  you  feel,"  assented  Forrester. 
"  I  wondered  myself,  until  an  incident  occurred 
Friday  night  which  half  convinced  me  they  were 
right.  Now,  let  me  tell  you  the  whole  story, 
and  then  we  will  talk  it  over.  One  thing  I  want 


156  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

to  impress  upon  you,  however.  Some  things  I 
am  about  to  tell  you,  especially  about  a  certain 
young  lady,  are  to  be  kept  absolutely  quiet  — 
no  matter  what  happens." 

"  That's  part  oj  my  business,"  assured  Green. 
"  A  detective  don't  get  nowhere  if  he  talks  too 
much." 

"  I'll  take  that  as  a  valuable  hint,"  laughed 
Forrester. 

He  then  related  the  occurrences  of  the  last 
two  daysj  his  meeting  with  Mary  Sturtevant, 
his  visit  to  Lucy,  the  call  from  Cahill  and 
O'Connor,  their  theories  and  plans,  the  mystify- 
ing telephone  calls,  and  finally  the  startling  dis- 
covery of  the  notice  in  his  humidor. 

"  And  now,"  Forrester  concluded,  "  I  want 
your  opinion  on  all  these  facts.  Forget  your 
natural  animosity  to  the  city  detectives,  Green, 
and  consider  their  clues  and  theories  in  the  light 
of  cold  reason." 

Green  shifted  his  chair  so  that  he  could  rest 
his  feet  on  the  window  sill,  relighted  his  cigar 
which  had  gone  out  while  Forrester  talked,  and 
smoked  for  a  while  in  silence. 

"  Look  here,"  he  said,  at  length.  "  You  re- 
member my  theory  and  arguments  that  these 
here  l  Friends  o'  the  Poor '  lived  near  that 
tree?  " 


SATURDAY  157 

"  Yes,"  replied  Forrester,  "  and  that  news- 
paper fellow,  Humphrey,  had  something  of  the 
same  idea.  I  half  agreed  with  both  of  you  after 
my  discoveries." 

"  All  right,"  continued  Green,  "  I'll  bet  you 
a  week's  pay  them  /talians  out  there  on  the  West 
Side  —  miles  away  —  are  just  plain  auto  ban- 
dits. They're  pullin'  some  game  o'  their  own, 
and  most  likely  never  even  heard  o'  the 
4  Friends  o'  the  Poor.'  Them  city  dicks  is  cov- 
erin'  up  their  poor  work  by  misleadin'  you. 
Get  me?  " 

"  But  the  telephone  calls,"  protested  Forres- 
ter. "  Especially  the  man's  voice  with  the 
foreign  accent!  " 

"  Bunk!  "  sneered  Green.  "  Reporters,  most 
likely,  tryin'  to  get  next  to  your  plans.  See 
here,"  he  added,  dropping  his  feet  to  the  floor 
and  shifting  his  chair  to  face  Forrester,  "  I 
bet  there's  so  many  o'  them  reporter  guys 
around  that  tree  tonight  that  the  i  Friends  o'  the 
Poor'  can't  get  near  it!  " 

"  And  that  notice  —  unaccountably  slipped 
into  my  cigar  humidor  while  I  sat  in  the  library. 
How  do  you  place  that?  " 

"  That's  the  only  real  thing  that  happened," 
maintained  Green.  "  But  it  ain't  any  way  mys- 


158  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

terious,  though  they  tried  to  scare  you  into 
thinkin'  it  was.  Them  guys  just  crawled 
through  a  window  while  you  was  out  to  dinner. 
It  was  there  all  the  evenin'  —  only  you  didn't 
happen  to  want  a  cigar  till  late,  that's  all.  Did 
you  find  any  open  or  unlocked  windows?  " 

"  Not  on  the  first  floor.  I  discovered  a  sec- 
ond floor  window  open  after  hearing  a  door 
slam." 

"  Any  floor  would  suit  them  guys,"  asserted 
Green.  "  Take  it  from  me,  Mr.  Forrester j  you 
and  me's  nearer  the  solution  o'  this  thing  than 
them  city  bulls.  We're  right  on  the  ground 
now,  and  we're  goin'  to  locate  somethin'.  Let 
them  detective  guys  play  around  with  their 
/talians.  They'll  never  get  'em  near  that  tree 
—  never  on  your  life!  " 

The  library  at  "  Woodmere  "  faced  the  ter- 
race, upon  which  a  row  of  French  windows 
opened.  Forrester  sat  by  the  big  center  table 
that  evening,  idly  turning  the  pages  of  a  book. 
Heavy  footsteps  clattered  along  the  terrace,  and 
a  moment  later  Green  entered  at  one  of  the 
windows. 

"  I  was  waiting  for  you,"  Forrester  greeted 
him,  rising  as  he  spoke.  "  My  mother  and  sister 


SATURDAY  159 

have  just  left.  Now,  one  last  word  of  instruc- 
tion, Green.  You're  to  stick  close  to  the  win- 
dows of  the  drawing  room  over  there  at  the 
Prentices'.  After  dinner  I  will  walk  to  one  of 
the  windows  with  Miss  Sturtevant.  Take  a 
good  look  at  her.  While  Pm  away  try  and  keep 
an  eye  on  her.  If  she  slips  out,  trail  her! 
That's  your  job  for  tonight." 

"  Count  on  me,"  assured  Green.  "  Is  that  the 
money?  "  he  asked,  indicating  a  long  flat  pack- 
age on  the  table. 

"  That's  the  package  I'm  going  to  put  in  the 
tree." 

Green  picked  up  the  package  and  weighed  it 
in  his  hand  while  his  eyes  sparkled.  "  Gee!  " 
he  exclaimed.  "  Twenty-five  thousand  bucks!  " 

"  No,"  laughed  Forrester,  "  only  a  few 
ounces  of  paper!  " 

"  Coin'  to  fool  'em,  eh?  "  grinned  the  detec- 
tive. 

"  That's  what  I  hope  to  do.  I  made  a  very 
open  and  noisy  visit  to  my  bank  this  morning, 
and  remained  for  some  time  in  the  president's 
private  office.  The  idea  was  to  give  anyone  who 
might  be  watching  the  impression  that  I  was 
drawing  the  money  from  the  bank.  What  ac- 
tually happened,  however,  was  that  I  explained 


160  THE    SECRET    TOLL 

my  plans  to  the  president,  and  he  instructed  a 
clerk  to  make  up  this  dummy  package." 

Forrester  took  the  package  from  Green  and 
slipped  it  into  an  inner  pocket.  "  Come,"  he 
said,  and  led  the  way  out  to  his  car. 

"  Am  I  too  late  to  ask  for  the  first  dance?  " 
inquired  Forrester,  as  he  approached  Mary 
Sturtevant  after  dinner. 

"  Pm  sorry,"  she  replied,  smiling,  "  but  you 
were  very  late  in  arriving.  A  New  Yorker 
seems  to  be  popular  in  Chicago." 

"  Depends  greatly  upon  the  New  Yorker," 
returned  Forrester. 

"  You  haven't  changed  a  bit  since  Thursday, 
have  you?  "  cried  the  girl.  "  How  many  dances 
do  you  wish?  "  and  she  extended  her  card. 

"  I'm  afraid,"  declared  Forrester,  a  doleful 
note  creeping  into  his  voice  as  he  glanced  over 
the  card,  "  that  I  shall  have  to  forego  any.  I 
must  leave  before  you  have  completed  this  long 
list  of  engagements." 

"  Oh,  of  course,"  she  exclaimed.  "  I  had 
forgotten.  You  have  a  most  important  engage- 
ment yourself  at  ten-thirty." 

Forrester  looked  at  her  sharply. 

"  How  do  you  know?  "  he  asked. 


SATURDAY  161 

Miss  Sturtevant  looked  surprised. 

"  Why,  you  told  me  —  and  it  has  been  in 
all  the  papers." 

"  Not  the  exact  hour,"  returned  Forrester,  his 
eyes  still  observing  her  keenly. 

"  Oh,"  she  murmured,  flushing,  "  wasn't  it? 
Well,  then,  I  must  have  heard  it  somewhere." 

"  Over  the  telephone,  perhaps,"  suggested 
Forrester. 

"  One  hears  gossip  in  so  many  ways,  it  is  hard 
to  remember  the  source,"  she  returned,  easily. 
"If  you  won't  have  time  to  dance,  we  can  at 
least  chat  until  the  dancing  starts.  Let's  look  for 
a  quiet  corner." 

It  was  an  opportunity  which  Forrester  wel- 
comed. He  guided  her  carelessly  toward  one  of 
the  large  windows  that  opened  out  on  the  lawn. 
The  musicians,  concealed  among  palms  and 
flowers  at  the  other  end  of  the  room,  were  play- 
ing a  tender  little  air  —  one  that  seemed  to 
throw  a  mantle  of  romance  about  them.  For- 
rester looked  down  at  the  girl  in  silence.  It 
seemed  hard  to  believe  that  she  could  in  any 
way  be  linked  with  the  abominable  men  who  had 
committed  so  many  murders,  and  now,  threat- 
ened his  own  life.  Yet  her  actions  had  been 
strange,  and  her  slip  of  a  few  minutes  before 


1 62  THE    SECRET    TOLL 

seemed  inexplicable.  In  spite  of  his  misgivings 
Forrester  longed  for  the  girl.  Love  at  first 
sight  had  always  seemed  a  mere  trick  of  the  nov- 
elist to  Forrester.  As  he  stood  there  beside 
Mary  Sturtevant  he  knew  that  in  his  case  at  least 
it  was  a  fact!  Whoever  or  whatever  she 
was,  he  wanted  her!  If  she  had  made  a  mis- 
take —  well,  then  he  would  save  her  from  her- 
self. 

"  I  thought  we  came  here  to  chat,"  and  she 
smiled  mischievously  up  at  him. 

"  I  think  we  have  been  chatting,"  he  re- 
turned, and  added,  "  with  our  minds." 

Once  more  Mary  Sturtevant  flushed  slightly. 
"  You  could  never  guess  what  I  was  thinking," 
she  declared,  watching  him  with  a  peculiar 
smile. 

"  I  wish  I  could,"  he  replied,  earnestly.  "It 
might  solve  my  greatest  problem." 

"  Sometimes  you  say  such  strange  things,"  she 
asserted.  Then,  as  the  music  for  the  first  dance 
started  up,  she  added,  extending  her  hand  im- 
pulsively, "  There,  I  must  go.  I  wish  you  the 
best  of  luck  tonight." 

Her  last  words  struck  him  as  ominous.  How 
often  he  had  heard  a  similar  phrase  on  French 
battlefields  just  before  a  futile  sortie.  He 


SATURDAY  163 

seized  her  hand,  held  it  a  trifle  too  long,  per- 
haps, and  murmured,  lamely,  "  Thank  you." 

Then,  as  she  was  swept  away  by  her  first 
dancing  partner,  Forrester  slipped  through  the 
window  to  the  lawn.  After  that  few  minutes  of 
delightful  nearness  to  her  he  did  not  want  to 
dance.  To  hold  another  girl  to  him  now  would 
seem  like  sacrilege.  He  was  glad  that  he 
had  neglected  to  place  his  name  on  any  dance 
cards. 

"  She's  some  girl,  ain't  she,  Mr.  Forrester?  ' 
whispered  a  gruff  voice  at  his  side,  and  romance 
fled  at  the  sight  of  the  prosaic  Green. 

The  thought  that  this  rough  man  was  to  spy 
upon  the  girl  who  had  just  left  his  side  was  re- 
volting to  Forrester  in  his  present  mood.  He 
had  the  comforting  feeling,  however,  that  it 
was  for  her  own  good.  If  she  had  entangled 
herself  in  some  way  with  these  people  he  would 
save  her! 

"  That's  the  girl  you  must  keep  an  eye  on, 
Green.  And,"  instructed  Forrester,  "  see  that 
she  is  protected  also.  If  anything  happens  to 
her  tonight  you'll  have  to  answer  to  me." 

"  I  getcha,"  assented  Green.  "  You  don't 
want  them  bulls  to  beat  you  to  a  capture." 

"  What's  the  plot?  "  called  a  cheerful  voice, 


1 64  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

and  the  two  men  turned  quickly  to  find  Prentice 
close  at  hand. 

"  I  thought  you  were  dancing  by  this  time," 
said  Forrester. 

"  Haven't  danced  for  years,"  returned  Pren- 
tice. "  I  came  out  to  have  a  quiet  smoke,  and 
just  spotted  you  fellows  with  your  heads  to- 
gether." 

"  This  is  my  body-guard,  Detective  Green," 
stated  Forrester. 

"  Looks  like  an  able-bodied  protector," 
laughed  Prentice.  "  But  I  suppose  you  won't 
need  him  after  tonight."  Then  he  added, 
throwing  his  cigarette  away,  "  Think  I'll  go  in. 
You'll  be  back,  won't  you,  Bob?  " 

"  I  hope  to  return  if  all  goes  well." 

"  Remember  my  advice  —  get  away  from  the 
tree  if  there  is  going  to  be  a  battle.  See  you 
later,"  and  Prentice  strolled  in  through  the  win- 
dow Forrester  had  recently  left. 

"  Ten  o'clock!  "  exclaimed  Green,  consulting 
his  watch.  "Gee,  you  swells  eat  late.  Better 
start,  hadn't  you?  " 

"  I  think  I  will,"  decided  Forrester. 
"  There's  just  about  time  to  walk  over,  instead 
of  using  the  car." 

Green  watched  Forrester  until  he  disappeared 


SATURDAY  165 

in  the  darkness,  then  strolled  over  to  a  large 
tree  which  commanded  a  view  of  all  the  win- 
dows on  that  side  of  the  house.  If  any  other 
person  contemplated  leaving  the  dance  Green 
was  sure  they  would  try  to  slip  out  of  one  of 
these  windows,  selecting  that  way  as  the  one 
least  likely  to  attract  attention.  In  the  deep 
shadow  under  the  tree  the  detective  appeared  a 
part  of  the  trunk  against  which  he  leaned. 

Presently,  though  no  sound  had  reached 
Green,  he  saw  a  man's  figure  appear  in  silhouette 
against  the  lighted  window  which  faced  him; 
a  tall,  broad-shouldered  man,  wearing  a  sack 
suit  and  a  cap.  Green  knew  from  his  dress  that 
he  was  not  one  of  the  guests.  While  the  man 
might  be  only  a  chauffeur,  or  a  neighbor's  em- 
ployee, Green  decided  to  take  no  chances,  and 
remained  in  motionless  expectancy.  His  suspi- 
cions grew  as  he  noted  that  the  man  did  not  at- 
tempt to  peer  in  as  a  merely  curious  visitor 
would  have  done.  Instead  he  remained  where 
he  had  paused  when  Green  first  discovered  him, 
standing  in  the  same  tense,  motionless  attitude 
as  the  detective.  Either  the  man  was  keeping 
watch  as  Green  was  doing,  or  he  was  there  to 
keep  an  appointment. 

Green  was  enlightened  in  a  few  minutes. 


1 66  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

The  music  ceased  and  immediately  afterward  he 
saw  Mary  Sturtevant  appear  in  the  window. 
Glancing  hastily  about,  probably  to  make  sure 
that  she  was  not  observed,  the  girl  quickly 
stepped  through  the  window  and  into  the 
shadow  at  one  side.  A  low,  peculiar  whistle 
came  from  the  man,  and  the  girl  instantly  reap- 
peared as  she  approached  him.  Green  could  not 
hear  their  greeting,  but  they  turned  and  moved 
toward  his  place  of  concealment,  evidently  seek- 
ing the  shadow  of  the  tree  for  a  conference. 
Green  cautiously  moved  around  the  tree,  plac- 
ing its  massive  trunk  between  himself  and  the 
approaching  couple.  They  came  so  near  that 
Green  dared  not  look  around  the  trunk  at  them. 
He  stood  with  his  back  pressed  against  the  tree 
and  listened. 

"  And  now,  tell  me  how  matters  stand  to- 
night," requested  the  man,  evidently  ending  a 
report  of  his  own. 

"  No  one  has  left  the  room  except  Mr.  For- 
rester," replied  Mary  Sturtevant.  "He  started 
for  the  tree  a  few  minutes  ago." 

"  Take  anyone  with  him?  " 

"  Pm  not  sure.  He  arrived  with  that  private 
detective  and  he  may  have  taken  him  along." 

"  Very  likely,"  assented   the   man.     "  And 


SATURDAY  167 

there  will  be  city  detectives  there,  too,  that  I 
know.  It  will  be  very  difficult  for  anybody  to 
approach  that  tree  tonight.  It  may  spoil  our 
plans." 

"  Mr.  Forrester's  case  certainly  seems  to  be 
attracting  more  attention  than  the  others,"  com- 
mented the  girl. 

"  That's  because  he  is  putting  up  a  real  fight. 
To  tell  you  the  truth,  I  have  my  doubts  about 
the  package  of  money  he  is  putting  in  the  tree 
tonight.  It  probably  isn't  worth  the  danger  in- 
volved to  get  it." 

"  Do  you  think  he  will  take  the  risk?  Surely 
he  knows  that  punishment  would  be  certain." 

"  I  think  it  will  take  a  lot  to  scare  that  chap. 
He  will  probably  still  be  fighting  after  we  have 
listed  other  victims.  I  must  hurry  now  if  I  am 
to  get  there  on  time.  I'll  phone  you  after  you 
get  home." 

"  Yes,  do;  I  shall  be  worried  until  I  hear 
from  you,"  urged  the  girl. 

Green  waited  a  moment  before  cautiously 
peering  around  the  tree  trunk.  The  man  had 
disappeared  as  quietly  as  he  had  come,  and 
Mary  Sturtevant  was  just  passing  back  into  the 
house  through  the  window. 

"Gee!  "  muttered   Green.     "I've  got  the 


1 68  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

dope  now.     Pm  wastin'  time  here  —  me  for 
the  tree!  " 

He  started  off  at  a  run. 

By  going  north  along  the  road  on  which  the 
Prentice  estate  was  located,  Forrester  could 
reach  the  western  end  of  Jasper  lane.  He  began 
his  journey  at  a  brisk  pace.  The  night  was  clear 
but  dark,  the  white  strip  of  roadway  being 
barely  distinguishable.  Forrester  knew  the  way 
well,  however,  and  arrived  at  the  lane  without 
further  adventure  than  the  keeping  out  of  the 
way  of  occasional  motors  that  flashed  by.  As 
the  headlights  of  these  cars  threw  his  figure  into 
prominence  against  the  background  of  the  night 
he  thought  with  amusement  of  the  wonder  of 
the  occupants  at  seeing  a  hatless  man  in  evening 
clothes  straying  along  a  deserted  road. 

Forrester  did  not  make  any  effort  to  conceal 
himself  as  he  approached  the  great  oak.  Both 
the  detectives  and  the  emissaries  of  the 
"  Friends  of  the  Poor "  would  be  expecting 
him.  For  the  time  being  at  least  he  had  nothing 
to  fear,  and  it  would  be  well  for  all  those  who 
might  be  watching  to  know  definitely  when  the 
package  was  deposited. 

He  paused  for  a  moment  in  front  of  the  tree 


SATURDAY  169 

and  listened.  Nothing  was  to  be  seen,  and  there 
was  no  sound  save  the  distant  wail  of  a  loco- 
motive whistle  and  the  faint  rustling  of  leaves 
overhead.  Cautiously  picking  his  way  through 
the  darkness  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  detectives' 
strings  if  they  were  in  place,  Forrester  reached 
the  tree,  found  the  opening  and  placed  the  pack- 
age in  it.  Then  he  carefully  returned  to  the 
road  and  walked  noisily  along  it  for  a  short  dis- 
tance. Suddenly  he  leaped  aside  and  paused. 
When  he  was  assured  that  everything  re- 
mained quiet  he  crept  silently  back  in  the 
direction  of  the  tree,  but  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  road,  and  close  to  the  woods.  He  had 
slightly  lost  his  bearings  during  these  maneuvers 
in  the  darkness,  and  had  difficulty  in  again  lo>- 
cating  the  tree.  By  glancing  toward  the  sky 
from  time  to  time  he  finally  saw  the  huge  bulk 
of  the  oak  against  the  stars.  Feeling  around  for 
an  opening  in  the  underbrush  directly  opposite 
the  tree,  Forrester  moved  back  a  little  way  from 
the  road  and  waited. 

As  the  minutes  slipped  by  without  incident, 
Forrester  grew  restless.  The  necessity  of  re- 
maining absolutely  motionless  to  prevent  mak- 
ing any  noise  cramped  his  muscles,  and  the 
continued  silence  in  the  impenetrable  darkness 


I  yo  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

grated  upon  his  nerves.  He  had  expected  action 
of  some  kind,  yet  it  almost  seemed  now  as  if  he 
were  doomed  to  disappointment.  He  remem- 
bered that  on  other  occasions  detectives  had 
waited  there  throughout  the  night,  only  to  dis- 
cover in  the  morning  that  their  quarry  had  come 
and  gone.  Was  this  about  to  happen  once  more? 
Had  the  package  over  which  he  and  the  detec- 
tives were  watching  already  been  removed?  It 
hardly  seemed  possible,  in  view  of  the  precau- 
tions which  the  detectives  had  taken.  He  had  a 
feeling,  too,  that  somewhere  in  that  silent  dark- 
ness, others  beside  the  detectives  and  himself 
were  concealed.  He  did  not  hear  a  sound,  how- 
ever, outside  of  tiie  occasional  stirring  of  the 
leaves  as  a  gentle  breeze  passed  through  the 
woods. 

Suddenly,  far  down  the  lane,  Forrester  heard 
a  slight  creak  that  seemed  to  him  like  the  appli- 
cation of  the  brake  on  an  automobile.  Listening 
intently,  he  felt  sure  that  he  could  also  hear  the 
soft  purr  of  an  idling  engine.  At  last  they  must 
be  coming! 

Strain  his  ears  as  he  might,  however,  For- 
rester could  detect  no  other  sound.  If  anyone 
were  approaching  the  tree  it  was  with  a  catlike 
tread  that  no  human  ear  could  hear. 


SATURDAY  171 

Then,  in  a  moment,  everything  changed. 
There  was  a  short,  sharp  exclamation,  followed 
by  stifled  oaths  and  the  rush  of  feet.  Forrester 
could  tell  from  the  rustling  of  leaves  on  the 
ground  and  the  cracking  of  twigs  that  a  struggle 
was  taking  place.  He  longed  to  rush  forward 
and  help,  yet  reason  told  him  that  it  was  better 
to  leave  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  the  detectives 
until  they  were  sure  of  their  men.  The  next 
moment  the  darkness  was  scattered  by  two  elec- 
tric pocket  lamps  and  Forrester  recognized  Ca- 
hill  and  O'Connor  standing  halfway  between 
the  road  and  the  tree,  each  with  a  man  in  his 
grasp. 

Forrester  darted  across  the  road,  but  at  the 
same  moment  there  came  a  blinding  flash  of 
light  that  blotted  out  everything  about  him. 
This  was  followed  by  shouts  and  oaths  and  sev- 
eral pistol  shots.  The  flash  had  lasted  for  only 
a  second,  but  the  intensity  of  the  light,  fol- 
lowed by  utter  darkness,  left  Forrester  prac- 
tically blinded,  and  he  stood  helpless  in  the 
road. 

He  did  not  know  which  way  to  turn,  or  what 
had  happened,  until  an  electric  pocket  lamp  once 
more  spread  its  rays  across  the  road.  Forrester 
then  saw  that  the  man  who  held  it  remained 


172  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

alone  in  front  of  the  tree,  and  he  hurried  over 
to  join  him. 

"  What  happened?  "  cried  Forrester. 

"  That's  what  Pd  like  to  know,"  growled  the 
man,  who  proved  to  be  Cahill. 

Just  then  another  pocket  lamp  flashed  out. 
It  was  held  by  O'Connor,  who  now  approached 
from  the  roadway  and  joined  them. 

"  No  use,"  groaned  O'Connor,  "  they  got 
away.  I  stood  no  chance  chasin'  an  automobile." 

"  What  do  you  know  about  that?  "  muttered 
Cahill.  "  Those  Dagos  right  in  our  hands! 
Then  that  flash  went  off  and  blinded  us,  and 
piff  —  they  were  gone!  " 

"  That'll  make  some  picture!  "  came  a  glee- 
ful exclamation,  and  Humphrey  appeared 
within  the  circle  of  light  cast  by  the  pocket 
lamps. 

"Picture,  hell!  "  bellowed  Cahill.  "They 
got  away!  " 

Humphrey  stared  around  with  a  bewildered 
air.  "  Why,"  he  exclaimed,  "  when  you  turned 
on  your  lights  I  thought  you  had  them  fast.  I 
decided  that  was  the  time  to  set  off  my  flash 
light  and  shoot  a  picture  of  you  in  the  very  act 
of  capturing  your  prisoners." 

"  Bright  idea,  young  fellow,"  snorted  Cahill, 


SATURDAY  173 

"  but  in  one  second  you  killed  a  whole  year's 
detective  work!  r 

At  this  moment  a  wheezing  sound  was, heard 
in  the  road.  All  turned  in  that  direction  and 
saw  Green  come  staggering  up,  out  of  breath  and 
almost  speechless  with  his  exertions. 

"  Did  —  you  —  get  —  him?  "  gasped  Green, 
with  an  effort. 

"  Don't  see  any  strangers  hanging  around,  do 
you?  "  sneered  Cahill. 

"  Well  —  the  —  man  —  started  —  for  — 
the  tree,"  declared  Green,  "  and  I  —  followed 
him."  He  gave  a  gulp  and  partly  recovered 
his  breath.  "  Just  as  I  turned  in  —  from  the 
main  road  —  down  here  —  I  heard  the  rumpus 
—  and  I  thought  you  had  got  the  man." 

"THE  man?  "  exclaimed  Cahill.  "What 
are  you  talking  about?  " 

"  Why  —  I  was  keepin'  watch  at  a  house  — 
up  the  road  here  —  for  Mr.  Forrester.  I  heard 
a  man  arrangin'  to  come  down  to  the  tree  —  to 
get  the  package." 

"  Well,  he  split  into  two  by  the  time  he  got 
here,"  sneered  Cahill.  "  You've  been  looking 
through  last  year's  almanac,  partner." 

Forrester  took  the  puffing  Green  by  the 
arm  and  pushed  him  to  one  side.  "  If  you  know 


i74  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

anything,"  he  whispered,  "  keep  it  to  yourself. 
We'll  talk  it  over  later." 

"  Look  here,"  said  O'Connor,  suddenly, 
turning  to  Humphrey,  "  What  you  goin'  to 
do  with  that  picture  you  took?  r 

"  Put  it  in  the  paper  tomorrow,"  answered 
Humphrey,  triumphantly.  "  A  big  headline 
across  the  top  will  read:  '  Friends  of  the  Poor  ' 
caught  while  trying  to  collect  their  secret  toll." 

"  Don't  do  it !  "  commanded  O'Connor. 
"  They  ain't  caught  yet.  Keep  it  quiet  about 
that  picture.  Give  the  negative  to  us.  We'll 
have  the  faces  enlarged.  Perhaps  we  can  pick 
up  these  Dagos  from  their  photos." 

"  I  get  you,"  assented  Humphrey.  "  I  see 
I  spoiled  the  game  all  right  j  and  I'll  do  all  I 
can  to  help  you.  I'll  have  that  negative  over 
at  the  detective  bureau  first  thing  in  the 
morning." 

"  O'Connor  don't  talk  much,"  observed  Ca- 
hill,  "  but  when  he  does,  he  says  something. 
You  get  that  picture  to  us  quick,  young  fellow, 
and  we'll  close  this  thing  up  with  a  bang! 
There's  no  question  about  who  the  '  Friends  of 
the  Poor '  are  now." 

"  Did  those  fellows  get  my  package?  "  in- 
quired Forrester. 


SATURDAY  175 

"Not  on  your  life!  "  returned  Cahill. 
"  They  never  got  near  enough  to  the  tree  for 
that." 

"  Then,"  said  Forrester,  turning  to  Green, 
"  you  would  better  get  that  package  and  we'll 
take  it  back  with  us.  It  may  come  in  handy 
some  other  time." 

Green  went  to  the  tree  and  inserted  his  hand 
in  the  opening.  He  felt  carefully  around,  then 
withdrew  his  arm  and  turned  to  face  the  others. 
In  the  dim  light  of  the  pocket  lamps  they  saw 
that  his  eyes  were  staring  wildly. 

"  It's  gone!  "  he  cried. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

A    PUZZLING    WARNING 

T  ^  WHATEVER  happened  to  you  last  night, 
»  »  Son?  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Forrester. 

Forrester  had  just  strolled  into  the  dining 
room,  late  for  the  one  o'clock  Sunday  dinner. 
The  excitement  of  the  incident  at  the  tree,  to- 
gether with  the  strange  occurrence  related  to  him 
by  Green,  had  caused  Forrester  a  sleepless 
night.  It  was  nearly  dawn  when  he  had  finally 
fallen  asleep  and  in  his  state  of  nervous  and 
physical  exhaustion  he  had  not  again  awakened 
until  just  in  time  to  dress  for  dinner. 

"  It  seems  to  me,  Bob,"  observed  Josephine, 
"  that  of  late  it  has  become  quite  an  event  when 
you  honor  us  with  your  company." 

"  You  apparently  forget,"  returned  Forres- 
ter, testily,  as  he  sat  down,  "  that  I  have  had 
something  more  important  on  my  mind  this 
last  week  than  regular  attendance  at  meals  and 
dances." 

"  No,  Bob,"  smiled  Josephine,  "  I  had  not 
overlooked  the  great  event  that  has  come  into 

176 


A   PUZZLING   WARNING        177 

your  life  during  the  past  week.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  a  man  in  love  usually  loses  his 
appetite.  I  have  not  told  Mother  before,  but 
the  last  time  I  saw  you,  you  were  engaged  in 
an  earnest  conversation  with  Miss  Sturtevant. 
When  you  disappeared  so  completely  I  con- 
cluded that  she  had  probably  sent  you  forth  to 
tilt  with  windmills." 

"  I  gather  from  your  words,  young  lady, 
retorted  Forrester,  "  that  you  look  upon  me  as 
a  modern  combination  of  Don  Juan  and  Don 
Quixote.  Let  me  inform  you  that  I  am 
neither  of  these  —  but  simply  a  re-incarnation 
of  M.  Lecoq,  the  great  detective." 

"  This  repartee  bewilders  me  and  does  not 
answer  my  question,"  declared  Mrs.  Forrester. 
"  We  missed  you  right  after  dinner  last  night, 
Bob,  and  Diana  asked  for  you  several  times. 
She  said  that  she  had  not  had  one  dance  with 
you  —  not  even  a  word  except  a  formal  l  good- 
evening  '  when  you  arrived." 

"If  you  have  forgotten,  Mother,  at  least 
Josephine  must  remember  that  last  night  was 
the  night  on  which  I  was  to  place  that  extor- 
tion money  in  the  big  oak  in  Jasper  lane." 

"  Good  gracious!  "  cried  Mrs.  Forrester. 
"  You  assured  me,  Bob,  that  you  had  fixed  that 


178  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

matter  up  and  that  there  was  nothing  for  us  to 
worry  about.  Did  you  pay  them  the  money 
they  asked  for?  " 

"  I  put  a  package  in  the  tree  last  night  as 
instructed,"  returned  Forrester,  evasively. 
"  There  is  absolutely  nothing  for  you  to  worry 
about,  Mother." 

"  I  hope  you  gave  them  all  they  asked  for, 
Son,  and  have  not  trifled  with  them.  You 
know  what  happened  to  dear  Mr.  Nevins,  and 
others  who  opposed  them." 

"  It's  all  fixed  up,  Mother.  Just  go  on  with 
your  dinner  and  forget  about  it.  By  the  way, 
have  you  seen  the  Nevins  since  the  funeral?  r 

"  No,  but  I  talked  with  Mrs.  Nevins  over 
the  telephone  yesterday,"  explained  Mrs.  For- 
rester. "  They  will  not  open  their  house  here 
this  summer.  Just  now  they  plan  to  travel  for 
a  while,  and  then  stay  at  their  place  near  Pitts- 
field,  in  the  Berkshires,  until  fall." 

"  I  must  try  to  see  Charlie  before  he 
leaves,"  said  Forrester.  "  So  many  things 
have  happened  in  the  last  few  days  that  the 
time  has  seemed  like  weeks  instead  of  days." 

"  Incidentally,  Bob,"  informed  Josephine,  a 
moment  later,  "  you  will  be  interested  to  know 
that  you  have  been  quite  a  hero  during  the  past 


A   PUZZLING   WARNING        179 

week  because  of  that  demand  made  upon  you. 
It  seemed  as  if  every  group  I  approached  last 
evening  was  discussing  it,  and  when  your  con- 
tinued absence  was  discovered,  it  caused  consid- 
erable concern." 

"  You  should  have  assured  them,"  returned 
Forrester,  "  that  I  had  a  trusty  body-guard." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  exclaimed  Josephine,  "  William 
was  telling  me  about  that  man,  Green.  I  must 
get  a  look  at  him.  I  don't  know  that  I  ever 
saw  a  real  live  detective  before." 

"  Any  time  you  want  to  peek  through  the 
window,  Josephine,  you  will  probably  see 
him,"  replied  Forrester,  laughing.  "  He  has 
instructions  to  hang  around  outside  the  house 
and  keep  his  eyes  open." 

"  But  of  course  you  will  let  him  go,  now  that 
everything  is  settled,"  asserted  Mrs.  Forrester. 

"  Yes,  of  course,"  returned  Forrester,  "  but 
I  thought  it  might  be  just  as  well  if  he  stayed 
around  for  a  few  days  longer."  Then  he  added, 
diplomatically,  "  It  is  a  great  protection  against 
burglars  and  tramps  to  have  a  detective  near  the 
house." 

Dinner  over,  Forrester  joined  Green  in  the 
pergola.  Green  had  selected  this  spot  as  his 
permanent  station  because  it  formed  a  splendid 


1 80  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

vantage  ground  from  which  he  could  keep  an 
eye  on  the  principal  living  rooms  of  the  house, 
and  have  both  the  north  and  south  entrance  gates 
under  his  observation  as  well. 

Green  had  been  stunned  when  he  learned  of 
the  actual  appearance  of  the  Italians  at  the  tree 
on  Saturday  night.  While  he  frankly  confessed 
that  an  explanation  was  beyond  him,  he  refused 
to  believe  that  the  city  detectives  were  correct 
in  their  surmises.  He  stoutly  maintained  that 
the  real  "  Friends  of  the  Poor  "  were  undiscov- 
ered, and  cited  the  mysterious  disappearance  of 
the  dummy  package  as  proof  of  this  claim.  For- 
rester was  inclined  to  agree  with  him,  and  before 
parting  for  the  night  the  two  men  had  decided 
to  go  ahead  with  their  investigations,  independ- 
ently of  the  police.  Green,  after  the  conversa- 
tion he  had  overheard,  was  in  thorough  accord 
with  Forrester  in  the  conviction  that  Miss  Stur- 
tevant  was  in  some  way  the  key  to  the  problem. 

After  conferring  with  Green  along  these  lines 
for  some  time,  Forrester  left  the  detective  to 
watch  the  house,  and  taking  his  roadster,  started 
out  to  visit  the  girl. 

To  reach  the  house  which  Mary  Sturtevant 
had  rented  it  was  necessary  for  Forrester  to  pass 
through  Jasper  lane.  He  stopped  his  car  in 


A   PUZZLING    WARNING        181 

front  of  the  tree  and  made  a  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  ground  in  every  direction.  From  the 
trampled  condition  of  the  undergrowth,  and 
some  withered  leaves  which  had  been  burned  by 
the  flashlight,  Forrester  was  able  to  locate  the 
spot  across  the  road  where  Humphrey  had  been 
concealed.  The  wooden  pegs  which  the  detec- 
tives had  placed  in  the  ground  near  the  tree 
were  still  there,  though  the  strings  had  been 
broken  off  and  scattered  during  the  struggle. 
He  found  no  other  indications  of  anyone  having 
been  at  the  tree.  How  the  package  had  been 
removed  without  discovery  was  a  baffling  puz- 
zle. Standing  there  in  the  brilliant  daylight, 
Forrester  felt  as  though  the  whole  thing  were  a 
nightmare.  It  was  hard  to  associate  the  stories 
of  weird  voices,  rattling  chains  and  the  notes  of 
a  ghostly  bell  with  this  peaceful  woodland  spot. 
The  flaming  hand  which  Green  still  maintained 
he  had  actually  seen  was  too  fantastic  for  cre- 
dence. Forrester  re-entered  his  car,  more  than 
a  little  depressed  with  the  hopelessness  of  the 
situation,  and  continued  his  journey. 

Miss  Sturtevant  and  her  companion,  Mrs. 
Morris,  were  sitting  on  the  front  porch  when 
Forrester  arrived.  The  girl  was  frankly 
pleased  to  see  him,  rising  from  her  chair  and 


1 82  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

coming  part  way  down  the  steps  as  he  ap- 
proached. 

Under  the  spell  of  her  presence  Forrester's 
recent  depression  took  flight.  The  startling 
happenings  of  the  past  week  seemed  like  mere 
phantasmagoria  to  him  as  he  dropped  into  the 
chair  she  indicated.  He  settled  back  with  a  sigh 
of  relief  that  did  not  escape  the  girl.  Her  eyes 
softened  as  she  looked  at  him  and  had  Forrester 
turned  at  that  moment  he  would  have  been 
greatly  encouraged  by  the  flush  which  stole  over 
her  cheeks  when  she  perceived  his  attitude 
toward  her. 

"  You  are  tired,"  she  observed,  sympatheti- 
cally. "  It  has  been  a  great  strain.  I  am  sorry 
the  case  remains  unsolved." 

Forrester  glanced  around  sharply,  recall- 
ing Green's  information  about  the  promised 
telephone  message. 

"  You  have  heard  what  happened  last 
night?  "  he  queried. 

Miss  Sturtevant  stiffened  perceptibly,  and  the 
guarded  nature  of  her  reply  was  evident. 

"  Your  dejected  attitude  tells  a  plain  story, 
Mr.  Forrester.  Whatever  happened  at  the  oak, 
I  am  sure  you  are  still  perplexed." 

"  I  am,"  admitted  Forrester,  shortly. 


A   PUZZLING   WARNING        183 

"  I  have  heard,  Mr.  Forrester,  that  you  are 
making  a  determined  effort  to  unmask  these 
people  y  that  you  have  taken  grave  risks  which 
should  have  been  assumed  by  others  more  ex- 
perienced. Do  you  think  you  are  wise?  " 

"  What  do  you  think  I  should  do  ? "  asked 
Forrester. 

"  Go  away !  "  she  answered,  quickly,  emphati- 
cally. 

"  Until  when?  " 

"  Until  —  ,"  she  paused  a  moment,  "  until 
the  police  have  cleared  this  matter  up." 

"Permanent  banishment!  "  laughed  Forres- 
ter. But  immediately  his  face  grew  grave.  Why 
did  she  want  him  to  go  away?  Did  she  really 
feel  a  personal  interest  in  him,  and  desire  to 
save  him  from  the  retribution  she  knew  was  sure 
to  come,  or  had  he  actually  become  a  menace  to 
the  rogues  who  apparently  held  her  allegiance? 
Did  this  advice  come  from  her  heart,  or  had  she 
been  instructed  to  warn  him?  Forrester  was 
confused  in  a  tangle  of  hopes,  doubts  and  con- 
jectures. Then  a  passionate  longing  for  the  girl 
surged  within  him.  In  spite  of  his  suspicions 
and  the  enigmatic  occurrences  in  which  she  was 
a  prominent  figure,  he  knew  that  he  felt  a  rest- 
fulness  and  enjoyment  in  her  company  that  was 


1 84.  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

inexplicable.  Always  when  he  was  near  her  it 
seemed  as  if  he  had  reached  the  end  of  a  diffi- 
cult journey.  Despite  their  short  acquaintance 
Forrester  knew  that  he  was  deeply  and  irretriev- 
ably in  love.  With  his  usual  impulsiveness  he 
swung  his  chair  to  face  hers  and  burst  out: 

"  Mary,  I  love  you!  " 

The  girl  regarded  him  steadily,  a  serious, 
searching  look  in  her  brown  eyes  that  held  For- 
rester fascinated  and  for  the  moment  incapable 
of  further  speech.  Then  she  broke  the  spell. 

"  How  can  you,"  she  asked,  "  in  so  short  a 
time?  " 

"  Mary,  I  am  old  enough  to  know  my  mind 
and  heart.  I  have  danced  and  dined  and  flirted 
with  the  women  of  two  continents  without  a 
desire  for  any  one  of  them.  But  from  the  mo- 
ment I  saw  you,  I  wanted  you  —  just  you. 
Sometimes  love  may  grow  as  the  result  of  long 
friendship  or  close  association  j  but  when  a  man 
meets  his  real  mate  he  knows  it  —  instantly." 

"  Robert,"  said  the  girl,  timidly,  and  Forres- 
ter thrilled  at  the  sound  of  this  name  on  her  lips 
for  the  first  time.  It  showed  at  least  a  partial 
victory.  "  The  fate  that  has  so  strangely 
thrown  us  together  still  holds  us  in  its  hands. 
Both  of  us  are  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  a  ma- 


A   PUZZLING   WARNING        185 

lignant  force  and  until  such  time  as  fate  relin- 
quishes its  present  hold  upon  us  I  cannot  give 
you  the  answer  you  are  seeking." 

This  admission  from  Mary  Sturtevant 
startled  Forrester.  Yet  its  greatest  effect  upon 
him  was  to  further  strengthen  his  resolve  to  pull 
her  back  from  the  black  pit  of  disaster  before  it 
was  too  late. 

"  I  have  known  from  the  first  that  some 
hidden  influence  controlled  you,"  imparted  For- 
rester. "It  is  that  knowledge  which  impelled 
me  to  disclose  my  feelings  toward  you  so  soon. 
I  want  to  save  you  from  these  people  who  are 
dragging  you  down.  I  want  to  save  you  from 
yourself.  If  you  will  marry  me,  now,  we  can 
go  away  and  leave  this  hideous  nightmare  be- 
hind." 

As  Forrester  made  this  statement  a  peculiar 
expression  drifted  over  the  girl's  face.  Then 
her  eyes  sparkled  as  she  extended  her  hand  and 
laid  it  caressingly  upon  one  of  his  which  grasped 
the  arm  of  her  chair. 

"  Do  you  think  that  I  am  involved  in  this 
affair  of  the  l  Friends  of  the  Poor J  —  that  I 
have  guilty  knowledge  of  it?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  have  suspected  it,"  assented  Forrester. 
"  Many  of  your  actions  have  implicated  you 


1 86  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

seriously.  You  must  remember,"  he  added, 
"  that  I  have  been  playing  the  detective  my- 
self." 

"And  you  still  want  to  marry  me?  "  she 
queried. 

"  Yes;  I  want  you  more  every  minute  I  know 
you." 

"Then,  I  know  you  really  love  me,"  she  mur- 
mured. "  But,  Robert  —  I  cannot  draw  back 
now.  If  you  will  wait  until  this  thing  reaches 
its  inevitable  end  —  and  you  still  feel  that  you 
want  me  —  then  I  will  answer  you." 

Mary  Sturtevant  rose  to  her  feet  and  Forres- 
ter knew  that  she  was  dismissing  him.  Her 
companion  had  long  since  discreetly  disappeared 
and  the  dusk  of  approaching  evening  already 
threw  the  porch  into  shadow.  Realizing  that 
they  were  free  from  observation,  and  acting  on 
a  sudden  impulse,  Forrester  took  the  girl  in  his 
arms  and  held  her  close  to  him.  She  neither 
resisted  nor  responded,  but  her  soft,  warm  body 
aroused  in  Forrester  a  feeling  of  reckless  deter- 
mination to  solve  the  mystery  quickly  and  at  any 
cost.  Releasing  her,  he  left  without  a  word, 
dashing  down  the  steps  and  across  the  drive  to 
his  car. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE    INTRUDERS 

SEVERAL  days  passed  without  incident,  and 
so  far  as  Green  or  Forrester  were  con- 
cerned, no  progress  had  been  made.  Each  day 
Green  went  to  his  post  in  the  pergola  and  lolled 
in  an  easy  chair  while  consuming  Forrester's 
cigars  at  an  alarming  rate.  With  the  lake  rip- 
pling at  his  feet,  birds  calling  in  the  trees  around 
him,  and  gentle  breezes  tempering  the  increas- 
ing heat  of  advancing  summer,  Green  was  in 
paradise.  The  monotonous  hours  of  his  watch 
were  relieved  by  occasional  visits  from  William, 
the  chauffeur,  and  flirtations  with  the  maids. 

Forrester,  on  the  other  hand,  existed  in  a  state 
of  feverish  but  profitless  activity.  He  secured 
several  books  on  criminology  and  studied  them 
conscientiously  in  the  quiet  of  the  library  j  he 
spent  hours  in  the  woods  watching  the  tree  or 
spying  upon  the  negress,  Lucy.  He  could  not 
free  himself  from  the  idea  that  this  eerie  col- 
ored woman  was  in  some  way  connected  with  the 
187 


1 88  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

mystery,  although  Green  scoffed  at  its  possi- 
bility. 

"  You're  wastin'  time  on  that  Jamaica  nigger 
woman,"  counseled  Green.  "  That  type  can't 
stand  prosperity.  If  she  had  her  fingers  on  any 
o'  them  dollars,  she  wouldn't  be  rustin'  away  in 
the  woods.  I'd  risk  a  bet  that  she's  just  hidin' 
from  her  past." 

Once  Forrester  called  on  Mary  Sturtevant 
during  this  quiescent  interval,  and  twice  met  her 
at  social  functions  to  which  both  had  been  in- 
vited. On  these  latter  occasions  the  girl  had 
eluded  all  his  efforts  to  be  alone  with  her.  In 
fact,  Forrester  had  a  feeling  that  she  purposely 
avoided  any  appearance  of  more  than  a  mere 
acquaintance  with  him. 

He  was  not  deceived  by  these  eventless  days. 
Surmising  that  the  "  Friends  of  the  Poor  "  were 
holding  off  some  act  of  retaliation  merely  to  lull 
him  into  a  sense  of  false  security  and  thus  take 
him  off  his  guard,  Forrester  maintained  a  con- 
stant watchfulness  of  everything  about  him. 
This  caution  at  times  may  have  made  him  ap- 
pear churlish  j  in  such  instances  as  a  refusal  to 
accept  assistance  from  passing  motorists  when  he 
had  trouble  with  his  car  on  the  road. 

Then,  on  Saturday,  one  week  after  the  enig- 


THE    INTRUDERS  189 

matical  happenings  at  the  oak  tree,  the  case  once 
more  presented  itself  with  weird  and  baffling 
additions.  Toward  noon,  Humphrey  tele- 
phoned that  he  had  important  information  and 
would  come  out  to  "  Wccodmere  "  after  business 
hours.  Forrester  extended  him  an  invitation  to 
dinner,  coupled  with  an  admonition  against 
mentioning  a  word  regarding  the  matter  before 
his  mother  and  sister.  So  it  was  not  until  after 
dinner,  when  Forrester  had  summoned  Green 
and  the  three  men  had  shut  themselves  in  the 
library,  that  Humphrey  disclosed  his  startling 
information. 

Forrester  placed  cigars  on  the  library  table, 
inviting  the  others  to  help  themselves,  while  he 
filled  and  lighted  his  pipe.  "  Now,"  he  said, 
"  what  is  it?  " 

"  The  detectives  have  caught  the  Italians!  " 
divulged  Humphrey. 

"  Always  them  /talians,"  sneered  Green. 
"  Well,  what  then?  " 

"  Yes,"  requested  Forrester,  "  tell  us  the 
whole  story  —  right  from  the  start." 

"  It  begins  with  the  photo  I  made  last  Satur- 
day," began  Humphrey.  "  I  took  the  negative 
and  a  print  to  the  detective  bureau  as  I  prom- 
ised, and  turned  them  over  to  Cahill  and  O'Con- 


1 90  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

nor.  It  was  a  wonder,  too;  take  it  from  me! 
At  the  moment  the  flash  went  off  both  the  de- 
tectives and  the  two  Italians  looked  straight  at 
the  camera.  O'Connor  immediately  spotted  one 
of  the  men  as  Dominick  Campanelli,  a  suspect 
the  police  have  taken  in  half  a  dozen  times  but 
never  could  actually  fasten  anything  on.  That 
picture  of  mine  settled  him!  I  showed  the 
detective  bureau  this  time  that  it  was  worth 
while  letting  reporters  on  the  inside  of  their 
cases." 

"  Leave  out  the  interpolations,"  interrupted 
Forrester.  "  Green  and  I  want  the  facts  that 
concern  us." 

"  Oh,  you  gotta  let  them  reporters  blow  off  a 
little  steam,"  declared  Green. 

Humphrey  glared  at  Green.  "  You  detec- 
tives haven't  any  extra  steam  to  blow  off,"  he 
retorted.  "  Well,  as  I  was  about  to  say,  Cahill 
and  O'Connor  started  out  to  hunt  for  those  two 
men  in  the  photo.  They  picked  up  Campanelli 
out  in  Hammond  on  Thursday.  He  had  a  man 
with  him  named  Luigi  Licansi,  who  turned  out 
to  be  the  man  that  drove  their  car.  The  detec- 
tives kept  this  capture  quiet  until,  on  Friday, 
along  in  the  afternoon,  they  found  the  other 
man  in  the  picture  —  Frank  Tanuzzio  —  hang- 


THE    INTRUDERS  191 

ing  around  the  very  garage  where  the  car  with 
the  bullet  holes  was  discovered.  Cahill  consid- 
ered that  a  conclusive  piece  of  evidence. 

"  At  the  detective  bureau  the  men  were  sullen 
and  refused  to  talk.  The  detectives  put  them 
through  the  third-degree  all  night  without  re- 
sults. This  morning  the  men  were  taken  to  the 
office  of  the  State's  Attorney.  When  he  in- 
formed them  that  they  were  to  be  charged  with 
being  members  of  the  l  Friends  of  the  Poor,' 
and  would  probably  pay  the  penalty  for  the 
murders  committed  by  that  band  of  money- 
gougers,  these  Italians  were  scared  stiff  and 
immediately  offered  to  make  a  full  confes- 
sion." 

"  You  mean,"  exclaimed  Forrester,  "  that 
these  men  were  not  really  the  *  Friends  of  the 
Poor,'  as  the  detectives  had  supposed?  ' 

"  I  should  say  not !  "  returned  Humphrey. 
"  Just  low-brow  intruders  —  common  thieves. 
It  was  simply  a  case  of  one  crook  trying  to  steal 
from  another.  And  I  want  to  tell  you  that 
when  the  facts  are  made  public  they'll  be 
mighty  lucky  to  be  safe  in  jail." 

"  What've  I  been  tellin'  you,  Mr.  Forrester," 
cried  Green.  "  Thank  God,  them  /talians  will 
be  off  our  minds  now." 


1 92  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  Yes,"  admitted  Humphrey,  "  you  guessed 
right  for  once,  Green.  Pve  seen  their  signed 
confession.  I  telephoned  here  as  soon  as  I  left 
the  Criminal  Court  building." 

"  What  did  they  say  in  the  confession?  J 
questioned  Forrester. 

"  Of  course,  I  can't  remember  the  exact 
words,  but  the  facts  are  about  like  this:  Reading 
in  the  newspapers  that  people  were  placing  large 
sums  of  money  in  that  oak  tree,  they  figured 
that  it  would  be  easy  to  slip  up  some  night  and 
steal  the  money  before  the  other  fellows  could 
get  it.  It  was  just  a  question  of  knowing  what 
night  the  money  would  be  there.  When  they 
heard  of  your  case,  Mr.  Forrester,  these  Italians 
decided  that  their  opportunity  had  come  and 
watched  you  night  and  day  to  find  out  when  you 
placed  the  money  in  the  tree.  That  was  their 
car  which  followed  you  through  the  fog  that 
night.  Reading  my  article,  stating  that  you  in- 
tended placing  the  money  in  the  tree  last  Satur- 
day, they  made  sure  of  the  time  by  telephoning 
you  Friday  night." 

"One  telephone  call  accounted  for,"  mur- 
mured Forrester. 

"  I  frustrated  the  detectives'  capture,"  con- 
tinued Humphrey,  "  by  setting  off  the  flash- 


THE    INTRUDERS  193 

light  for  my  photo.  It  startled  and  blinded  the 
detectives,  so  they  tell  me,  allowing  these  fel- 
lows an  opportunity  to  get  away." 

"  Did  they  get  my  dummy  package?  "  in- 
quired Forrester. 

"  I  think  not,"  replied  Humphrey.  "The 
Italians  claim  not  to  have  taken  anything  from 
the  tree  at  any  time." 

Forrester  stretched  out  his  feet  before  him, 
thrust  his  hands  deep  into  his  trousers  pockets 
and  smiled  at  the  two  men. 

"  That  settles  all  doubt  about  the  l  Friends  of 
the  Poor,'  "  he  said.  "  They  not  only  remain 
unknown,  but  probably  secured  my  dummy 
package  and  know  that  I  have  fooled  them. 
Gentlemen,  kindly  omit  flowers." 

"  Ah !  but  here's  the  biggest  surprise  of  all," 
exclaimed  Humphrey,  as  he  jumped  out  of  his 
chair,  and  taking  a  large  envelope  from  the 
table  where  he  had  laid  it  on  entering  the 
library,  drew  forth  a  photograph. 

Green  and  Forrester  also  rose  and  approached 
the  library  table  while  Humphrey  was  arrang- 
ing the  photograph  where  the  lamplight  would 
fall  full  upon  it. 

"  A  camera  is  a  wonderful  thing,"  com- 
mented Humphrey.  "Astronomers  discover 


i94  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

stars  with  it  that  are  not  visible  to  the  eye,  even 
through  a  powerful  telescope  j  and  spiritualists 
claim  to  have  secured  photos  of  specters  or 
ghosts  or  whatever  they  call  the  things  that 
visit  them.  I  can  believe  it  after  seeing  this 
photo." 

"  You  ain't  got  a  picture  o'  them  ghosts,  have 
you?  "  queried  Green,  memories  of  a  certain 
gruesome  night  only  too  clearly  recalled. 

"  Maybe  it  is,  and  maybe  it  isn't,"  returned 
Humphrey,  non-committally,  but  obviously 
amused  at  Green's  apprehension.  "  That's  what 
I'm  going  to  let  you  folks  decide.  There!  "  he 
added,  placing  a  finger  on  the  photograph  as  the 
others  bent  over  it.  "  See  that  black  spot  back 
of  the  tree?  That  is  the  shadow  thrown  by  the 
tree  trunk  when  my  flashlight  went  off.  Natu- 
rally, anything  in  that  shadow  would  not  photo- 
graph well.  If  you  look  carefully,  however, 
you  can  make  out  what  appears  to  be  a  man 
standing  a  short  distance  back  of  the  tree.  It 
looks  like  a  silhouette,  and  may  be  only  my  im- 
agination. That  is  why  I  want  your  opinions." 

First  Forrester  and  then  Green  studied  the 
photograph. 

"Well?  "  inquired  Humphrey,  at  length. 

"  I  believe  you  are  right,"  acceded  Forrester. 


THE    INTRUDERS  195 

"  A  man  was  evidently  hiding  behind  the  oak 
while  we  were  there." 

"  I  can  go  you  one  better!  "  asserted  Green, 
positively.  "  Remember,  Mr.  Forrester,  the 
man's  silhouette  I  saw  on  the  Prentices'  lawn 
that  night  —  the  man  who  —  " 

"  Yes  —  yes,"  interrupted  Forrester,  quickly, 
fearing  that  Green  was  about  to  mention  the  girl 
before  Humphrey. 

"  That  looks  like  the  same  silhouette  I  " 

"  And  now,"  cried  Humphrey,  "  I  want  to 
show  you  something  that  is  even  more  puzzling. 
Do  you  happen  to  have  a  magnifying  glass,  Mr. 
Forrester?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Forrester,  opening  the  drawer  in 
the  table  and  taking  out  a  large  reading  glass. 

"  Hold  the  glass  over  the  opening  in  the 
tree,"  instructed  Humphrey.  "  Do  you  see 
anything?  " 

Forrester  adjusted  the  glass  to  different  dis- 
tances, while  he  examined  this  part  of  the  photo- 
graph. 

"  Yes,"  he  agreed,  after  a  time,  "  there  seems 
to  be  a  thin  black  object  inside  the  opening.  It 
may  be  my  package." 

"  No,"  protested  Humphrey.  "  This  looks 
like  a  black  rod  with  a  bright  or  white  spot  near 


196  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

the  end.  Can  you  make  it  out,  now  that  I  have 
explained  it?  >: 

"  Yes,"  acknowledged  Forrester,  "  but  I  can- 
not even  make  a  guess  at  what  it  can  be." 

"  I'll  bet  it's  a  hand!  "  groaned  Green.  "  I've 
seen  it  before!  " 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE    MASK    OF    DEATH 

HUMPHREY'S  visit  marked  a  turning 
point  in  the  mysterious  case  of  the 
"  Friends  of  the  Poor."  His  famous  photo- 
graph was  published  in  the  Times  and  created  a 
considerable  stir.  Fortunately,  in  the  news- 
paper reproduction  only  the  prominent  features 
were  discernible,  and  as  at  Forrester's  request 
the  reporter  had  omitted  any  reference  to  the 
perplexing  details  which  he  had  discovered, 
these  possible  clues  remained  unknown  to  the 
police  and  public.  All  the  newspapers  showed  a 
tendency  to  ridicule  and  censure  the  police  for 
their  misdirected  activity,  which  aroused  the  de- 
partment to  redoubled  efforts  in  the  solution  of 
the  case.  This  was  further  accentuated  by  pres- 
sure brought  to  bear  upon  the  chief  of  police, 
and  even  the  mayor  himself,  by  various  civic 
associations  which  had  become  alarmed  at  the 
inability  of  the  police  to  protect  wealthy  citizens 
from  this  terrible  menace. 

A  small  army  of  detectives  was  assigned  to 
197 


i98  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

the  case,  and  as  Green  expressed  it,  "  You  can't 
turn  a  corner  without  steppin'  on  some  bull's 
toes."  Police  activity  was  largely  expended  in 
the  form  of  espionage  upon  persons  who  had  in 
any  way  been  connected  with  the  case,  and  care- 
ful investigation  of  all  people  who  lived  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  oak  tree.  Green  reported  to  For- 
rester that  a  man  who  was  unquestionably  a  de- 
tective was  keeping  the  Forrester  estate  under 
surveillance,  and  Forrester  discovered  that  a 
detective  was  steadily  on  guard  at  the  tree. 

That  the  "  Friends  of  the  Poor  "  were  un- 
daunted by  this  display  of  police  action,  and 
were  prepared  to  flaunt  their  power  in  the  very 
faces  of  the  police,  was  shown  by  the  fact  that 
one  morning  the  detective  who  had  been  on 
watch  at  the  tree  the  night  before  was  found 
dead.  The  police  surgeon  stated  it  to  be  a  clear 
case  of  asphyxiation,  although  how  such  a  thing 
had  been  accomplished  in  the  open  air  he  was 
not  prepared  to  say.  This  tragedy,,  however, 
terminated  all  efforts  of  the  police  to  keep  an 
open  watch  over  the  tree,  for  it  was  evident  that 
the  mysterious  force  which  was  at  work  could 
not  be  reached  in  this  way. 

On  the  same  day  Green  had  come  to  Forrester 
in  a  state  of  great  dejection.  The  detective  had 


THE    MASK   OF   DEATH        199 

found  one  of  the  familiar  wrapping  paper  notes 
pinned  to  his  chair  in  the  pergola,  which  read: 

To  DETECTIVE  GREEN  AND  ROBERT  FORRESTER: 
You  have  but  ten  days  to  live. 

FRIENDS  OF  THE  POOR. 

Following  the  death  of  the  detective  at  the 
tree,  the  negress,  Lucy,  was  arrested  on  suspi- 
cion, and  Forrester  learned  from  the  newspapers 
that  the  police  had  thoroughly  ransacked  her 
home  in  a  search  for  incriminating  evidence,  but 
without  results.  Forrester  was  impressed,  when 
he  read  this  report,  by  the  fact  that  Lucy  persist- 
ently refused  to  give  any  information  regard- 
ing herself.  As  had  been  the  situation  at  the 
time  of  the  reputed  murder  of  her  husband, 
there  was  absolutely  no  evidence  against  her, 
and  the  police  were  forced  to  release  her.  To 
Forrester,  however,  she  still  held  her  position 
as  a  possible  though  puzzling  element  in  the 
case. 

Forrester  also  read  with  indignation  that  de- 
tectives had  visited  Mary  Sturtevant,  closely 
questioning  everyone  in  her  household.  Not  a 
breath  of  suspicion  was  raised  against  her  as  a  re- 
sult of  this  investigation,  which  pleased  Forres- 


200  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

ter,  though  it  still  further  bewildered  him  m  his 
surmises  regarding  the  girl.  What  chance  had 
he  in  unearthing  something  which  a  direct  police 
investigation  could  not  disclose?  Forrester  had 
not  seen  Mary  Sturtevant  for  some  days,  but 
this  incident  impelled  him  to  call  on  her,  so 
early  in  the  evening  he  took  his  roadster  and 
drove  over  to  the  girl's  house. 

Mary  Sturtevant  Js  apparent  coldness  toward 
him  at  their  recent  meetings  had  worried  Forres- 
ter, and  he  was  greatly  relieved  when  her  greet- 
ing was  more  cordial  than  ever  and  she  showed 
every  indication  of  pleasure  at  seeing  him. 

"  Robert,"  she  said,  as  he  drew  his  chair  close 
to  hers  and  sat  down,  "  I  had  about  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  you  had  taken  my  advice  and 
gone  away." 

"  You  know,"  replied  Forrester,  "  that  I 
will  not  leave  here  until  this  case  is  solved  — 
unless  you  promise  to  go  with  me." 

"  That  is  impossible,"  she  returned.  "  I  am 
in  no  danger  —  not  even  from  the  police,"  and 
she  glanced  at  him  with  one  of  her  old  mischie- 
vous smiles.  Then  added,  gravely,  "  But  you 
are  risking  your  life  every  day  that  you  remain 
here." 

"  Mary,"  protested  Forrester,  "  your  attitude 


THE    MASK    OF    DEATH        201 

in  this  matter  is  inexplicable.  Won't  you  con- 
fide in  me  and  let  me  help  you?  "  > 

"  Some  day,  Robert,"  she  declared,  earnestly, 
"  I  shall  probably  be  able  to  explain  to 
you;  but  please  for  the  present,  say  no  more 
about  it." 

While  absolutely  certain  of  his  own  feelings 
toward  her,  Forrester  was  still  doubtful  about 
her  attitude  toward  him.  The  fact  that  she  con- 
tinued to  use  his  given  name  when  they  were 
alone  encouraged  him.  Beyond  that,  however, 
she  gave  little  or  no  evidence  of  how  she  felt 
toward  him.  Forrester  was  unwilling,  there- 
fore, to  risk  offending  her  by  further  talk  upon 
a  subject  which  she  so  urgently  requested  him  to 
drop.  He  turned  the  conversation  to  other  mat- 
ters in  which  they  were  mutually  interested. 

At  ten  o'clock  Forrester  rose  to  go,  and  the 
girl  accompanied  him  to  the  foot  of  the  steps. 
There  she  held  out  her  hand  and  as  he  took  it, 
she  said,  pleadingly, "  Please,  Robert,  won't  you 
go  away  for  a  little  while?  " 

Forrester  leaned  over  and  touched  his  lips  to 
her  hand. 

"  No,"  he  returned  shortly,  and  jumped  into 
his  car. 

As  he  drove  along  Jasper  lane  Forrester  was 


202  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

startled  to  hear  a  sharp  report  behind  him.  It 
echoed  through  the  still  woods  and  for  a  mo- 
ment he  thought  that  someone  had  fired  a  shot 
at  him,  but  the  immediate  jarring  of  his  car 
signified  that  one  of  the  rear  tires  had  blown 
out.  He  stopped  the  car,  shut  off  the  engine, 
and  after  adjusting  the  spotlight  so  that  he 
could  see  to  work,  threw  his  coat  into  the  car  and 
started  the  job  of  changing  tires. 

He  had  nearly  completed  the  task  when  he 
was  suddenly  seized  in  a  strong  grip  and  some- 
thing placed  over  his  face ! 

Though  taken  at  a  disadvantage,  and  aware, 
from  the  peculiar  odor  which  assailed  his  nos- 
trils, that  his  opponent  was  endeavoring  to 
render  him  unconscious  by  some  sort  of  gas  or 
drug,  Forrester  did  not  give  up  hope  but  fought 
back  courageously.  His  arms  had  been  pinioned 
at  his  sides,  however,  and  he  found  it  impossible 
to  do  more  than  struggle  in  the  grasp  of  his 
attacker.  Realizing  that  he  must  soon  lose  con- 
sciousness, Forrester  made  a  supreme  effort  and 
succeeded  in  wrenching  his  arms  free.  His  first 
thought  being  to  get  air,  he  grasped  at  the  ob- 
ject over  his  face  in  an  effort  to  pull  it  away.  It 
was  too  late,  for  he  already  felt  faint  and  weak 
and  could  not  exert  the  necessary  strength. 


THE    MASK   OF    DEATH        203 

Then  he  dimly  heard  several  explosions  like 
pistol  shots  and  everything  became  blank. 

Forrester  slowly  opened  his  eyes  and  stared 
straight  ahead  for  a  minute  or  two,  trying  to 
recollect  what  had  happened  and  where  he  was. 
He  was  in  bed,  but  the  room,  so  far  as  he  could 
see  in  the  dim  light  of  a  distant,  shaded  lamp, 
was  unfamiliar. 

"  Oh,  Robert,"  cried  a  voice,  "  are  you  all 
right?  How  do  you  feel?  Speak  to  me!  J: 

Languidly  he  turned  his  head  and  recognized 
Mary  Sturtevant  sitting  by  the  bedside  Then 
he  discovered  that  one  of  his  hands  was  held 
tightly  in  both  of  hers. 

"  What  has  happened?  "  he  queried,  weakly. 

"  You  met  with  an  accident,"  she  answered. 
"  The  doctor  said  we  got  there  just  in  time. 
You  must  not  talk  about  it  now,  or  ask  any  ques- 
tions." 

She  dropped  his  hand,  and  jumping  up, 
hurried  across  the  room.  In  a  moment  she  re- 
turned with  a  glass,  and  holding  his  head  up 
with  one  hand,  placed  the  glass  at  his  lips. 

"  Drink  this,"  she  ordered. 

Forrester  drank  a  little  from  the  glass  and 
then  she  let  his  head  drop  gently  back  on  the 


204  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

pillow  and  sat  down  beside  him.  He  watched 
her  dreamily  for  a  moment  or  two,  finally 
dropping  off  to  sleep. 

When  Forrester  again  awoke  the  bright 
morning  sun  was  streaming  in  through  a  window 
at  the  foot  of  his  bed.  The  first  thing  he  saw 
was  the  big  colored  man,  Joshua,  rocking  in  a 
chair  near  the  window  and  crooning  to  himself. 
Forrester  tried  to  sit  up,  but  found  that  he  was 
very  weak.  His  effort  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  negro. 

"  Yo'  jes'  lie  still,  Boss.    Dem's  mah  orders." 

"  Hello,  Joshua!  "  said  Forrester,  and  was 
surprised  at  the  feebleness  of  his  voice  when 
he  tried  to  speak.  "  What  are  you  doing 
here?  " 

"  Ah  belong  heah,  Boss.  Dis  am  Mistah 
Bradbury's  house." 

Forrester  was  puzzled.  He  knew  that  "  Mr. 
Bradbury's  house  "  was  where  Mary  Sturtevant 
lived. 

"How  did  I  get  here,  Joshua?"  he  in^ 
quired. 

"  Ah  guess  de  hants  done  got  yoj,  Boss.  Mah 
Missey  an'  me  done  fine  yo'  layin'  in  de  road 
in  front  of  dat  tree  wif  a  rubber  t'ing  in  yo' 
han'." 


THE    MASK   OF   DEATH        205 

"  A  rubber  thing?  r>  exclaimed  Forrester. 
"  What  do  you  mean?" 

"  Ah  dunno  what  it  is,  Boss." 

"  Where  is  it  now?  "  asked  Forrester. 

"  We-all  done  got  it  downstairs,  Boss.  Ah'll 
get  it  and  show  yo\" 

Joshua  left  the  room.  He  returned  pres- 
ently with  a  large,  circular  piece  of  rubber  which 
he  placed  in  Forrester's  hands.  Forrester  ex- 
amined it  carefully.  He  found  that  it  was 
flexible,  somewhat  oval  in  form,  and  concave. 
At  the  back  a  piece  of  light  rubber  tubing,  about 
one  foot  in  length,  was  attached.  Forrester 
placed  the  rubber  over  his  face  for  a  moment 
and  found  that  its  form  made  it  fit  like  a  mask. 
He  withdrew  it  hastily  when  he  heard  an  ex- 
clamation at  his  side.  It  was  Mary  Sturtevant, 
and  as  Forrester  glanced  up  he  saw  her  looking 
at  him  with  startled  eyes. 

"Joshua!  "  she  cried,  turning  to  the  negro, 
"  how  did  Mr.  Forrester  get  that?  " 

"  Ah  done  brung  it  to  him,  mam." 

The  girl  seized  the  piece  of  rubber  from  For- 
rester and  handing  it  to  Joshua,  directed,  "  Take 
it  away  instantly,  Joshua.  Put  it  in  my  room." 

"  Yassum !  "  and  Joshua  darted  out  of  the 
room,  mumbling  to  himself. 


206  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

The  events  of  the  night  came  back  to  Forres- 
ter quite  clearly  now. 

"  Was  that  the  thing  my  assailant  used  on  me 
last  night?  "  he  asked,  looking  up  at  the  girl. 

"  Yes,"  she  returned,  "  but  you  mustn't  talk 
about  it." 

"  But  I  want  to  talk  about  it,"  he  exclaimed. 
"  And  I  want  it  for  evidence !  " 

"Robert,"  she  said  seriously,  "  you  must  not 
tell  a  soul  about  what  happened  last  night,  or 
refer  to  that  piece  of  rubber.  It  is  absolutely 
vital  that  you  do  this  for  me.  Please  promise." 

"  I'll  consider  it,"  he  said,  "  if  you  will  tell 
me  the  whole  story  of  what  happened." 

"  I  am  willing  to  tell  you  that,"  she  returned, 
"  but  first  you  must  have  your  breakfast.  I  can 
tell  you  the  story  while  you  are  eating.  It  is 
very  short." 

She  left  the  room,  returning  in  a  few  minutes 
with  a  tray.  After  assisting  Forrester  to  sit  up 
in  bed,  and  arranging  the  pillows  at  his  back, 
she  placed  the  tray  in  his  lap.  As  he  ate,  she 
explained  to  him  what  had  happened. 

"  After  you  left,  I  stood  on  the  steps  listen- 
ing to  the  hum  of  your  engine  as  you  drove 
away.  I  was  worried,  Robert,  to  think  of  your 
recklessness  in  driving  around  alone  at  night 


THE    MASK   OF   DEATH        207 

under  the  present  circumstances.  Suddenly,  I 
heard  a  report  like  a  pistol  shot,  and  as  I  could 
no  longer  hear  the  sound  of  your  engine,  I 
feared  that  something  had  happened  to  you. 

"  Calling  Joshua,  we  ran  along  the  road  in 
the  direction  you  had  taken.  We  soon  saw  the 
lights  of  your  car,  and  I  could  see  that  two  men 
were  struggling  in  the  road.  I  knew  that  one  of 
them  must  be  you.  I  have  always  carried  my 
little  automatic  with  me  since  I  came  to  live  in 
this  lonely  neighborhood.  Taking  it  out,  I  fired 
several  shots  in  the  air  as  I  ran.  That  fright- 
ened the  man  who  was  attacking  you  and  he  fled. 

"  Joshua  carried  you  back  to  the  house,  and 
I  telephoned  for  a  doctor.  The  doctor  said 
that  an  attempt  had  been  made  to  asphyxiate 
you.  If  we  had  been  a  minute  or  two  later  he 
could  not  have  saved  you." 

"My  God!  "  cried  Forrester,  receiving  a 
shocking  revelation.  "  The  '  Friends  of  the 
Poor  J !  That  is  how  their  victims  have  been 
killed!  How  did  you  get  that  mask  of  death, 
Mary?  " 

"  You  had  seized  it  with  a  deathlike  grip. 
The  doctor  could  hardly  get  it  out  of  your 
hands.  When  the  man  fled  he  had  to  break  the 
tubing  to  carry  the  rest  of  the  apparatus  away." 


208  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  What  a  wonderful  piece  of  evidence!  "  ex- 
claimed Forrester. 

"  Yes,"  admitted  the  girl,  "  but  against  whom 
will  you  use  it?  " 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE    FATAL    DANCE 

FORRESTER'S  splendid  health,  and  the 
prompt  treatment  he  had  received,  quickly 
put  him  on  his  feet.  The  second  day  after  his 
adventure  he  had  sufficiently  recovered  to  drive 
home  in  his  car.  This  had  been  placed  in  the 
Bradbury  barn  by  Joshua,  who  also  completed 
the  exchange  of  tires,  which  had  been  inter- 
rupted. 

The  effect  of  this  incident  upon  his  family 
worried  Forrester.  It  would  drive  his  mother 
into  a  state  of  hysterical  fear  that  could  not  fail 
to  seriously  impede  his  investigations.  When 
he  mentioned  this  phase  of  his  accident  to  Mary 
Sturtevant,  however,  he  found  that  the  clever 
and  resourceful  girl  had  foreseen  and  provided 
against  such  an  occurrence 

Green  had  been  summoned  shortly  after  For- 
rester was  brought  to  the  house,  the  attack  ex- 
plained and  instructions  given  to  inform  For- 
rester's family  that  a  business  proposition  had 
called  him  away  unexpectedly  for  a  few  days. 
209 


210  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  No  one  outside  of  Mr.  Green  and  my  ser- 
vants will  ever  know  of  this  incident,"  Mary 
Sturtevant  informed  Forrester,  "  if  you  remain 
silent.  And  for  my  sake  I  know  that  you  will." 

Forrester  promised,  though  strange  doubts 
and  misgivings  battled  with  his  affection  for  the 
girl.  But  of  what  use  was  love,  he  reflected,  if 
it  could  not  stand  the  fire  and  acid  tests  of  life's 
problematical  moments.  That  the  girl  loved 
him  he  did  not  question  now.  It  was  only  this 
dark  and  fearsome  mystery  which  continued  to 
hold  them  apart. 

Back  home  again,  Forrester  bathed  and 
changed  his  clothes  j  then,  after  looking  up  his 
mother  and  sister  and  accounting  for  his  absence 
in  a  matter  of  fact  manner,  he  sought  Green  at 
his  station  in  the  pergola. 

"  Narrow  escape,  Mr.  Forrester,"  commented 
Green,  as  Forrester  shook  hands  with  him  and 
sat  down.  "Funny  how  that  Miss  Sturte- 
vant happened  to  be  so  handy.  What  do  you 
say?  " 

"  I  came  out  to  have  a  talk  with  you,  Green, 
along  that  line,"  replied  Forrester.  "  I  have 
found  some  of  your  ideas  right  to  the  point.  In 
other  ways  you  don't  seem  to  get  anywhere. 
Now,  for  example,  your  surmise  about  the  Ital- 


THE    FATAL   DANCE  211 

lans  was  correct.  Your  theory  that  Lucy  is  not 
connected  with  these  people  appears  to  be  con- 
firmed by  the  investigations  of  the  police.  The 
position  you  take  that  the  *  Friends  of  the  Poor ' 
are  located  in  the  vicinity  of  the  tree  grows 
stronger  every  day.  But  —  you  don't  seem  able 
to  point  your  finger  at  a  single  person  or  thing 
that  will  give  us  a  solid  basis  upon  which  to 
work.  That  is  what  I  want  now  —  a  real  sug- 
gestion that  I  can  follow  up,  and  through  which 
I  may  hope  to  form  some  definite  conclusion 
or  take  positive  action.  We  must  have  action, 
Green  j  quick  action." 

"  I  have  given  you  a  valuable  hint,  Mr.  For- 
rester, but  you  turned  it  down.  What  about 
them  two  people  I  saw  on  Prentice's  lawn  — 
what  about  the  man  who  visited  Miss  Sturte- 
vant  and  then  hid  himself  behind  the  tree  and 
pulled  out  your  package  while  the  excitement 
was  on  —  what  about  'em,  eh?  Why,  damn  it 
all!  "  Green  exclaimed,  jumping  to  his  feet  and 
pounding  a  big  fist  on  the  palm  of  his  open 
hand,  "  just  let  me  get  out  of  here  and  I'll  show 
you  somethin'.  How  can  I  get  anywhere,  just 
sittin'  here  co.mmunin'  with  the  birds.  If  you 
won't  let  me  do  it,  then  get  out  yourself  and 
find  that  man.  Between  him  and  the  girl  you 


2i2  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

got  two  startin'  points  that'll  bag  the  whole 
crew." 

Forrester  sat  in  silence  after  this  outburst. 
Green  was  right!  The  detective  had  pointed 
an  accusing  finger  at  Mary  Sturtevant.  He  had 
given  Forrester  positive  information  that  she 
knew  something  definite  about  the  "  Friends  of 
the  Poor,"  and  yet,  blinded  by  his  infatuation, 
Forrester  had  done  nothing. 

"  All  right,  Green,"  agreed  Forrester,  "  I'll 
work  on  your  suggestions.  How  can  we  locate 
that  man,  however?  " 

"  If  he  had  a  date  with  her  once,  he'll  have 
another,"  asserted  Green.  "  Stick  around  — 
that's  all.  That  girl'll  solve  the  case  for  you 
yet.  Just  get  her  in  a  tight  corner."  Then  he 
leaned  down  to  Forrester  and  added,  in  a  low, 
confidential  tone,  "  And  don't  forget  that  old 
story  about  them  sireens  on  the  rocks." 

A  few  days  later  Forrester  met  Mary  Stur- 
tevant at  a  dance.  Though  he  had  promised 
Green  that  he  would  watch  her,  Forrester  had 
dallied  over  taking  the  first  step.  Now,  as  he 
chatted  with  her  and  felt  the  spell  she  always 
cast  over  him,  Forrester's  whole  being  revolted 
at  the  thought  of  spying  upon  her. 


THE    FATAL   DANCE  213 

"  Do  you  wish  any  dances?  "  she  inquired, 
after  a  time.  Forrester's  face  flushed.  Di- 
vided between  his  disturbing  reflections  and  the 
enchantment  of  her  nearness,  he  had  not 
thought  of  reserving  any  dances.  He  held 
out  his  hand  and  she  placed  her  dance  card 
in  it. 

"  You  see,  you  are  always  late,"  she  chided 
him.  "  Five  dances  are  already  taken." 

"  I'll  take  these  three  after  young  Melville," 
announced  Forrester,  and  wrote  his  initials  on 
the  card. 

Forrester  had  lost  his  interest  in  dancing  of 
late,  so  he  held  himself  in  the  background  until 
it  was  time  to  claim  his  first  dance  with  Mary 
Sturtevant.  Then  he  hunted  for  her  every- 
where. She  was  not  to  be  found,  and  even  after 
the  orchestra  had  begun  to  play,  she  did  not  ap- 
pear. He  saw  nothing  further  of  her  until  time 
for  his  second  dance,  when  he  suddenly  became 
aware  that  she  was  standing  by  his  side. 

"  You  are  like  the  beautiful  young  woman 
that  the  magician  passes  through  his  cabinet," 
exclaimed  Forrester. 

"  Do  I  appear  and  disappear  so  mysteri- 
ously as  all  that?  "  she  laughed,  but  offered  no 
apology  nor  explanation. 


2H  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

Then  the  music  began  and  they  swept  out  on 
the  floor. 

Just  before  the  dance  ended  Forrester  noted 
a  stir  near  the  conservatory  doors.  Though  the 
doors  were  closed,  several  people  were  grouped 
about  them,  apparently  looking  through  the 
glass  at  something  going  on  within  the  conserva- 
tory. When  the  music  stopped  Forrester  sug- 
gested that  they  stroll  in  this  direction  and 
ascertain  what  was  taking  place.  Before  they 
reached  the  conservatory  doors,  however,  Mr. 
Melville,  their  host,  appeared  at  Forrester's 
side.  The  man's  face  was  pale  and  drawn. 

"  Forrester,"  said  Mr.  Melville  in  a  low 
voice,  "  we  have  had  an  accident  in  the  conserva- 
tory. I  would  appreciate  your  help.  Come 
around  by  way  of  the  hall  —  the  doors  from 
this  room  have  been  locked." 

Mr.  Melville  turned  away  toward  the  hall 
and  Forrester  excused  himself  to  Mary  Sturte- 
vant.  He  noticed  that  her  face  also  had  paled. 

"  I  think  I  know  what  has  happened,"  she 
said.  "  Please  let  me  go  with  you." 

"  It  might  not  be  agreeable  to  Mr.  Melville," 
objected  Forrester. 

u  Robert,"  she  whispered,  impressively, 
"  you  are  safe  only  when  I  am  with  you!  " 


THE    FATAL   DANCE  215 

Forrester  stared  at  her  in  astonishment. 
There  was  a  beseeching  look  in  her  eyes,  how- 
ever, and  she  held  her  hands  out  to  him 
with  a  pleading  gesture  which  he  could  not 
resist. 

"  Come,"  he  said,  briefly,  and  taking  her 
arm  led  her  across  the  room  and  around  through 
the  hall  into  the  conservatory.  Near  its  center, 
hidden  from  prying  eyes  among  palms  and 
flowering  plants,  they  found  Mr.  Melville's  son 
stretched  out  on  a  bench.  Near  by  stood  the 
father,  while  a  gray-haired  man  leaned  over  the 
young  man.  The  gray-haired  man  stood  erect 
at  the  sound  of  Forrester's  and  the  girl's  ap- 
proach. Mr.  Melville  was  apparently  too  much 
distressed  to  notice  Mary  Sturtevant's  unbidden 
presence.  He  turned  to  Forrester,  informing 
him  simply  that  the  gray-haired  man  was  a 
doctor. 

The  deathly  pallor  on  the  young  man's  face 
told  the  story.  Forrester,  however,  inquired: 

"Dead?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  doctor.    "  Asphyxiated!  " 

"  This  is  the  work  of  the  c  Friends  of  the 
Poor,'  Forrester,"  asserted  Mr.  Melville.  "  I 
knew  that  you  were  involved  and  had  been  car- 
rying on  some  investigations  in  the  matter.  It 


2i 6  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

occurred  to  me  that  there  might  be  some  clues 
here  of  value  to  you.  This  is  the  story: 

"  About  two  weeks  ago  I  was  ordered  by  these 
people  to  place  a  certain  sum  in  that  oak  tree. 
Naturally,  I  ignored  the  demand  and  notified 
the  police.  Since  then  I  have  taken  every  pre- 
caution to  protect  myself  against  attack.  Un- 
able to  get  at  me,  it  seems  obvious  that  these 
contemptible  wretches  have  reached  me  through 
my  son.  That,  I  believe,  is  a  new  angle,  and 
shows  the  extremes  to  which  these  people  are 
prepared  to  go." 

"  When  did  this  happen,  Mr.  Melville?  " 
asked  Forrester. 

"About  a  half-hour  ago,  I  should  say,  I  saw 
my  son  pass  into  the  conservatory  with  this 
young  lady,"  and  Mr.  Melville  turned  toward 
Mary  Sturtevant  for  the  first  time. 

Forrester  also  turned  and  looked  at  the  girl. 
She  met  his  gaze  steadily. 

"  Shortly  after  I  came  here,"  she  explained, 
"  my  next  dancing  partner  entered  and  claimed 
me.  I  left  young  Mr.  Melville  sitting  near 
that  open  window  over  there." 

Forrester  gave  no  outward  indication  of  the 
shock  he  had  received.  He  clearly  remembered 
that  after  young  Melville's  dance  the  next  three 


THE    FATAL   DANCE  217 

dances  were  his.  It  was  during  the  first  of 
these,  the  one  she  had  intimated  belonged  to 
someone  else,  that  he  had  missed  the  girl.  He 
knew,  therefore,  that  she  had  lied  deliberately, 
placing  it  squarely  up  to  him  to  protect  her. 
"Protect  her  from  what?  "  thought  Forrester. 
"  What  was  this  frightful  new  development  in 
the  mystery?  w 

"  I  decided  I  wanted  a  smoke,"  continued 
Mr.  Melville,  "  and  so  came  into  the  conserva- 
tory. A  moment  later  I  found  my  son  on  the 
floor  beneath  that  open  window  where  Miss 
Sturtevant  says  she  left  him.  My  doctor  was 
among  the  guests  and  I  summoned  him  at  once 
—  but  too  late,  it  seems." 

"  Any  other  facts?  "  asked  Forrester,  and  re- 
ceived another  shock  when  the  doctor  handed 
him  a  small  piece  of  filmy  white  fabric. 

"  I  found  this  beside  the  body,"  said  the  doc- 
tor. And  added,  as  Forrester  took  it,  "  Note 
the  peculiar  odor." 

Forrester  lifted  the  fabric  to  his  nose. 
Instantly  he  recognized  the  same  pungent,  drug- 
like  smell  which  he  had  noticed  the  night  he 
was  attacked  with  the  death  mask.  Examining 
the  filmy  bit  of  cloth,  Forrester  saw  that  it  was 
a  part  of  a  lady's  handkerchief  which  had  been 


2i 8  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

s 
torn  in  half.    In  one  corner  the  letter  "  S  "  was 

embroidered.  Crumpling  the  handkerchief  in 
his  hand,  Forrester  pushed  it  into  his  waistcoat 
pocket. 

"  I  believe  I  can  make  use  of  this,"  he  said. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

AT    THE    DOORSTEP 

/CRUSHED  beneath  the  weight  of  his  secret 
V^  knowledge  of  Mary  Sturtevant's  seem- 
ingly close  connection  with  the  infamous  band 
of  extortioners  and  murderers  who  were  liter- 
ally terrorizing  the  city,  Forrester  fell  into  a 
dull  routine  that  held  him  back  from  making 
any  progress  in  the  case.  That  a  girl  of  her  deli- 
cate refinement,  superior  intelligence  and  ap- 
pealing femininity  should  be  involved  with 
these  men  whose  wanton  butcheries  were  becom- 
ing more  and  more  appalling,  was  a  bewildering 
conundrum.  Had  anyone  simply  stated  the  case 
to  Forrester,  he  would  have  ridiculed  such  a 
suggestion,  yet  step  by  step  facts  had  accumu- 
lated rapidly  from  the  day  he  first  met  her  at 
the  oak  tree,  culminating  in  the  astounding 
situation  at  the  dance.  The  facts  were  so  glar- 
ingly against  her  then  that  he  hardly  dared 
review  them. 

At  the  time  he  put  her  handkerchief  in  his 
219 


220  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

pocket  he  had  had  two  objects  in  view;  to  save 
her  from  the  possible  consequences  of  the  dis- 
covery of  so  definite  a  clue,  and  later  to  con- 
front her  with  it  and  force  a  confession.  He 
had  a  wild  idea  that  once  he  knew  the  whole 
story  he  could  persuade  her  to  go  away  with  him 
where  the  baleful  hold  these  men  apparently 
had  on  her  could  not  follow.  Remembering  the 
coincidence  of  her  leaving  the  room  with  young 
Melville,  her  absence  when  it  was  Forrester's 
turn  to  dance  with  her,  and  her  untruthful 
statement  regarding  her  parting  with  Mel- 
ville, Forrester  saw  clearly  that  her  activ- 
ities in  the  affair  were  more  than  passive. 
Everything  pointed  to  her  as  a  daring  accom- 
plice. 

Forrester  decided  that  as  she  had  repulsed 
all  his  efforts  to  induce  her  to  leave,  it  would  be 
better  for  him  to  stay  away  from  her  entirely 
and  let  her  work  out  her  destiny  in  her  own  wil- 
ful way.  For  this  reason  he  refused  all  invita- 
tions, knowing  that  the  wide  acquaintance  which 
her  letters  of  introduction  had  gained  for  her 
would  inevitably  result  in  his  meeting  the  girl 
at  practically  every  place  he  went. 

In  spite  of  loud  protests  from  Josephine,  he 
had  declined  on  this  night  to  attend  one  of  the 


AT   THE    DOORSTEP  221 

largest  affairs  of  the  season  and  was  sitting  in 
the  library  with  an  open  book  laid  face-down 
across  his  knee.  After  a  short  chat  earlier  in  the 
evening,  Green  had  retired  to  his  station  across 
the  lawn  and  Forrester  attempted  to  read.  The 
printed  words  made  little  or  no  impression  on 
his  perturbed  mind  and  at  length  he  dropped 
the  book.  For  over  two  hours  he  sat  staring  out 
through  the  open  French  windows,  wholly  lost 
in  melancholy  thoughts. 

Suddenly  Forrester  was  conscious  that  some- 
one was  looking  at  him  through  the  open  win- 
dow. He  started  up  in  alarm  just  as  Prentice 
strolled  into  the  room. 

"  Hello!  "  greeted  Prentice.  "  Did  I  startle 
you?  " 

"  Rather,"  answered  Forrester,  as  he  dropped 
back  into  his  chair.  "  How  the  deuce  did  you 
get  in?  " 

Prentice  raised  his  eyebrows  in  surprise. 
"  That's  a  strange  question,"  he  declared.  "  I 
just  walked  in,  of  course.  Why  do  you  look  so 
astonished?  r 

"  Well,  you  see,"  explained  Forrester,  "  I 
have  a  detective  stationed  out  there  on  the  lawn. 
He  is  not  supposed  to  allow  anyone  to  slip  in 
like  that." 


222  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  He  has  probably  dropped  off  to  sleep," 
laughed  Prentice.  "  Or  perhaps,  recognizing 
me,  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  interfere.  Are 
your  folks  at  the  dance  tonight,  Bob?  J 

"  Yes,  and  I'm  a  little  surprised  that  you  are 
not  there." 

"  A  man  of  my  age,  Bob,  gets  surfeited  with 
such  affairs.  My  wife  and  daughter  are  there, 
however,  and  I  promised  to  run  up  with  the  car 
and  bring  them  home.  In  passing,  it  occurred 
to  me  that  you  might  like  to  go  along  for  the 
ride  on  such  a  warm  night.  It  will  give  me  an 
opportunity  to  chat  with  you,  too.  You  know 
it  has  been  a  long  time  since  we  had  a  confiden- 
tial talk  over  things." 

"  I  appreciate  your  thoughtfulness,  Prentice, 
but  I  had  rather  not  go.  I  had  quite  a  battle 
with  Josephine  over  staying  at  home.  If  she 
found  that  I  had  actually  come  as  far  as  the 
door  after  all,  there  would  be  high  jinks.  You 
know,  I  seem  to  be  settling  down  terribly 
lately." 

"  You've  taken  too  large  and  unaccustomed 
a  burden  on  your  shoulders,  Bob.  Better  drop 
that  *  Friends  of  the  Poor '  matter.  Even  the 
police  are  not  getting  anywhere." 

"  I  would  not  have  believed  a  few  weeks  ago 


AT   THE   DOORSTEP  223 

that  criminals  could  go  so  far  without  detec- 
tion," said  Forrester. 

Prentice  glanced  around  as  though  he  feared 
being  overheard.  Then  he  addressed  Forrester 
in  a  low  tone.  "  Pve  changed  my  mind  about 
the  criminal  side  of  this  money  drive.  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  that  it  is  something  more  — 
something  of  world-wide  significance."  Then 
added,  in  a  louder  voice,  "  Well,  I  must  be 
going  on.  Good-night,  Bob,"  and  he  passed  out 
of  the  window. 

Forrester  listened  to  his  steps  fade  away 
along  the  terrace  and  then  sat  pondering  over 
Green's  noninterference  with  Prentice's  ap- 
proach. It  was  unusual  and  peculiar.  If  the 
detective  were  getting  careless  he  was  of  no  fur- 
ther use.  Happily,  in  this  instance,  it  had  been 
only  Prentice,  but  might  not  one  of  his  enemies 
come  in  on  him  just  as  easily? 

Forrester  jumped  up  and  strode  across  the 
lawn  to  the  pergola. 

"Green!  "  he  called,  sharply. 

The  breeze  whispering  through  the  leaves 
and  the  splash  of  tiny  wavelets  on  the  beach 
below  were  the  only  sounds  Forrester  heard. 
He  stepped  into  the  pergola  and  struck  a 
match.  Green  was  in  his  chair,  but  huddled 


224  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

down  in  a  loose  and  helpless  bundle.  Forres- 
ter shook  him  without  result,  though  the 
man's  labored  breathing  showed  that  he  was 
not  dead. 

"  My  God!  "  cried  Forrester.  "  I  believe  he 
has  been  attacked  with  the  death  mask!  " 

He  ran  part  way  to  the  garage  before  remem- 
bering that  the  chauffeur  was  with  the  car  and 
waiting  several  miles  away  to  bring  Mrs.  For- 
rester and  Josephine  home.  Green  must  be 
gotten  out  of  the  way  before  they  arrived.  Re- 
turning to  the  pergola  Forrester  placed  Green's 
inert  form  over  his  shoulder  and  carried  the 
detective  to  his  room  over  the  garage.  Laying 
the  man  carefully  on  the  bed  Forrester  hurried 
to  the  house  to  telephone. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  doctor,  a  half-hour  later,  "  I 
think  he  will  live.  We  got  him  just  in  time. 
Peculiar  thing,  Mr.  Forrester,  how  a  man  can  be 
asphyxiated  in  the  open  air  —  yet  this  fellow 
shows  every  symptom  of  asphyxia." 

"Please  don't  mention  the  matter  at  the 
house,  doctor,"  requested  Forrester.  "  My 
mother  and  sister  might  be  unnecessarily 
alarmed  over  it." 

"  I  understand,"  agreed  the  doctor.  "  Mum's 
the  word."  Then,  turning  to  William,  who 


AT   THE   DOORSTEP  225 

had  returned  and  stood  in  the  room,  he  added, 
"  Are  you  going  to  watch  him?" 

"  My  wife  and  I  will  take  turns,"  replied 
William. 

"  Well,  if  there  is  a  change  that  does  not 
look  favorable,  telephone  me  at  once.  I'll  be 
back  in  the  morning.  Good-night." 

During  the  period  of  Green's  convalesence 
Forrester  emerged  from  his  lethargy,  passing  to 
the  other  extreme.  He  became  restless  and  un- 
easy. The  doctor  advised  him  against  discuss- 
ing any  serious  matters  with  Green,  stating  that 
the  man  had  received  a  mental  as  well  as  a  phys- 
ical shock  and  that  complete  recovery  could 
come  only  through  both  mental  and  bodily  rest. 
Forrester  remained  away  from  Green,  there- 
fore, and  finding  himself  unable  to  concentrate 
upon  his  reading  or  to  focus  his  thoughts  for 
any  length  of  time,  he  spent  many  hours  walk- 
ing along  North  Shore  roads,  or  discovering 
new  bypaths  through  the  woods. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  he  found  himself 
unexpectedly  in  the  rear  of  Lucy's  cottage.  As 
he  retained  lingering  suspicions  of  the  Jamaica 
colored  woman  it  seemed  to  Forrester  an  oppor- 
tune time  to  pay  her  another  visit.  He  walked 


226  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

around  the  end  of  the  building  through  the 
neglected,  weed-grown  clearing  to  the  door  and 
knocked.  No  noisy  dog  greeted  him  this  time, 
and  in  the  quiet  and  gloomy  woods  the  place 
seemed  to  exhale  an  atmosphere  of  insidious 
mystery.  He  knocked  twice  before  Lucy  opened 
the  door  and  stood  as  he  remembered  her  before 
—  silent,  distrustfully  observant,  her  peculiar 
eyes  with  their  oddly  drooping  lids  vaguely 
suggestive  of  furtive  evil. 

"  Good  afternoon,"  Forrester  greeted  her, 
cheerfully. 

"  You  here  again?  "  and  a  scowl  added  to  the 
forbidding  aspect  of  her  face. 

"  Yesj  after  more  news,"  replied  Forrester. 

She  smiled  sneeringly,  and  Forrester  sus- 
pected that  she  was  now  well  aware  that  he  was 
not  connected  with  a  newspaper. 

"  Well,  what  sort  of  news  do  you  want  this 
time?  "  she  snapped. 

An  inspiration  came  to  Forrester.  Perhaps  if 
aroused  and  angered  she  might  let  something 
slip.  "  Your  opinion  of  the  detectives  and  po- 
lice," he  answered. 

The  effect  was  contrary  to  his  anticipations. 
She  smiled,  her  face  assuming  a  more  cheerful 
expression  than  he  had  ever  seen  upon  it. 


AT   THE    DOORSTEP  227 

"  Stupid  fools!  "  she  said,  briefly,  emphasiz- 
ing in  two  words  of  similar  import,  the  depth  of 
her  contempt  for  the  representatives  of  the  law. 
It  was  a  revelation  to  Forrester,  which,  more 
than  anything  else,  influenced  some  of  his  sub- 
sequent actions. 

"  What  has  become  of  your  dog?  "  he  asked. 
"  I  missed  his  friendly  reception." 

Again  her  face  glowered.  "  The  police  shot 
him,"  she  answered.  Then  added,  "  Pm  busy; 
you'd  better  run  along,"  thus  ending  the  inter- 
view abruptly  as  she  had  before. 

"  I  think  I  will,"  assented  Forrester.  "  Good- 
bye," and  he  walked  away  along  the  path  that 
led  by  the  tree,  conscious  that  the  inscrutable 
eyes  of  the  negress  were  following  him  in  spec- 
ulation. 

Forrester  returned  home,  but  instead  of  going 
directly  into  the  house  he  strolled  across  the 
lawn  to  the  pergola.  There  he  sat  down  to 
smoke  his  pipe,  and  analyze  his  impressions  of 
Lucy. 

A  golden  glow  from  the  late  afternoon  sun 
hung  over  the  lake.  Here  and  there  a  sailing 
craft  with  sun-gilded  sails  moved  lazily  along 
before  the  gentle  offshore  breeze.  Birds 
chirped  in  the  trees  at  his  back,  and  humming 


228  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

insects  hovered  around  him.  Nature  breathed 
peace  and  restf ulness.  Only  man  —  and  wo- 
man —  created  the  turmoil  and  misery  that  dis- 
turbed life's  predestined  course.  If  only  human 
beings  would  realize  that  when  His  work  was 
done  all  that  was  needed  had  been  accomplished, 
and  cease  their  ineffectual  attempts  to  check  or 
alter  the  inevitable.  Yet,  while  man  continued 
to  battle,  man  must  also  fight  back. 

Forrester's  reveries  were  interrupted  by  the 
spluttering  roar  of  a  motor  and  he  glanced 
toward  the  garage.  William,  seated  in  the  big 
car,  was  tuning  up  his  engine,  while  a  man,  pale, 
haggard  and  unsteady  on  his  feet,  trudged 
across  the  lawn  toward  the  pergola.  Forrester 
was  surprised  to  see  Green  up  and  in  action. 

The  detective  entered  and  sank  weakly  into 
a  chair  near  Forrester. 

"  What's  up,  Green?  "  cried  Forrester.  "  I 
thought  you  were  still  confined  to  your  bed." 

"  Pm  goin'  back  to  bed  when  I  get  home," 
replied  Green.  "  Pm  goin',  Mr.  Forrester;  Pm 
through!  " 

"  You  mean  you  are  going  to  leave  me?  " 
queried  Forrester. 

"  Yes,"  assented  Green.  "  I  ain't  got  any 
wife  or  children,  but  I  may  have  some  day,  and 


AT   THE   DOORSTEP  229 

I  don't  want  to  disappoint  'em  by  being 
bumped  off  now.  Besides,  it  ain't  dignified  for 
a  detective  to  be  gassed  off  while  his  back  is 
turned  —  without  a  chance.  If  I  have  to  die, 
Pm  goin'  to  die  fightin'.  So  I'm  goin',  Mr. 
Forrester.  That's  final." 

"  I'm  sorry,  Green,"  admitted  Forrester,  ear- 
nestly. "  You  have  become  almost  like  one  of 
the  family.  You  have  been  a  help,  too.  Some 
of  your  ideas  have  been  tip-top,  and  I  may  yet 
profit  by  hints  you  have  given  me.  If  I  do,  I'll 
not  forget  that  bonus  I  promised  you." 

"  I  ain't  worryin'  about  no  bonus,"  returned 
Green,  "  but  I  am  sort  o'  worryin'  about  you. 
Do  you  know  what  that  day  was  that  I  nearly 
got  took  off?  " 

"  Do  you  mean  what  day  of  the  week  or 
month?  "  inquired  Forrester. 

"  That  was  the  last  day  o'  the  ten  days  them 
guys  give  us!  The  only  thing  that  saved  you 
was  probably  the  accidental  droppin'  in  o'  that 
friend  o'  yours,  Prentice,  that  night.  He  must 
Jve  come  while  they  was  operatin'  on  me. 
They've  been  gettin'  closer  and  and  closer,  Mr. 
Forrester,  but  they're  at  the  doorstep  now!  " 

Green  rose  to  go.  Forrester  jumped  from 
his  chair  and  shook  the  man's  hand  warmly. 


230  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"  One  last  piece  o'  advice,"  whispered  Green. 
"Watch  the  girl!  Maybe  she  ain't  an  actual 
criminal,  but  somebody's  got  a  good  hold  on 
her.  What  she  knows  about  them  people  would 
most  likely  be  an  eye  opener  for  you." 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

TRIANGULATION 

GREEN'S  sudden  departure,  following  the 
enforced  and  trying  separation  from 
Mary  Sturtevant,  depressed  Forrester  and  left 
him  with  a  sense  of  helpless  loneliness.  He  ate 
dinner  that  night  in  a  morose  silence  that  called 
forth  several  cutting  remarks  from  Josephine. 
After  dinner  Forrester  sought  the  seclusion  of 
his  room  in  preference  to  the  library.  He 
wanted  to  be  isolated  in  order  to  work  out  his 
problem,  for  Green's  words,  coupled  with  the 
afternoon  visit  to  Lucy,  had  aroused  a  determi- 
nation to  end  the  suspense  quickly  and  finally. 
He  had  information  that  was  unknown  to  the 
police  —  information  which  Green  claimed  to 
be  vital  —  and  he  wanted  to  decide  how  to  use 
it  to  the  best  advantage. 

Green's    intimation    that    Mary    Sturtevant 

might    not    be    an    actual    criminal    gave    a 

different  twist  to  the  situation.    To  conceive  of 

her  being  a  bandit  queen  had  seemed  prepos- 

231 


232  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

terous,  yet  what  other  construction  could  be 
placed  on  her  actions? 

But  Forrester  also  recalled  Prentice's  vague 
reference  to  a  new  angle  in  the  case  —  a  phase 
that  had  hitherto  not  been  thought  of.  "  Some- 
thing of  world-wide  significance,"  were  his 
words.  What  connection  could  there  be  be- 
tween these  local,  cold-blooded  murders  and 
the  rest  of  the  world? 

Unexpectedly  a  great  light  seemed  to  come 
—  swift,  overwhelming,  terrific  in  its  magni- 
tude. Forrester  caught  his  breath. 

Red  interests! 

Why  not?  Was  not  the  long  arm  of  Bol- 
shevism reaching  out  everywhere  in  an  effort 
to  destroy  nations  and  bring  about  a  new  order 
of  things  j  could  not  some  master  mind  have  de- 
vised, with  grim  humor,  a  plan  to  make  so- 
called  Capitalism  pay  the  cost  of  its  own 
destruction?  Forrester's  head  swam  with  these 
thoughts.  He  saw  now  that  the  savage  reprisals 
for  refusal  to  pay  could  not  possibly  be  the  work 
of  ordinary  men.  Not  even  the  most  desperate 
criminal  would  take  the  risk  of  so  arousing 
public  wrath.  On  the  other  hand,  would  not 
the  wholesale  fear  aroused  among  wealthy  men 
by  this  method  be  part  of  Red  propaganda? 


TRIANGULATION  233 

How  many  perplexing  things  seemed  to  as- 
sume a  new  and  easily  explained  meaning. 
"  Friend  of  the  POOR "  —  an  appropriate 
title  seen  from  the  viewpoint  of  Red  schemers. 
Lucy,  a  woman  close  to  the  soil,  her  color  a  bar 
to  progress,  despite  her  education,  would  be 
an  easy  convert.  Forrester  was  sure  the  mystery 
embraced  her  at  some  point,  yet  Green  had  said 
she  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  displaying 
her  prosperity.  But  working  fanatically  for 
what  she  believed  a  great  cause,  would  explain 
it.  It  was  possible  that  she  was  the  one  who 
collected  the  money  and  passed  it  on. 

And  Mary  Sturtevant's  part  became  less 
blameworthy.  Many  women  of  her  class  had 
dabbled  in  amateur  Bolshevism.  In  her  case  she 
had,  perhaps,  gone  a  little  too  far,  and  the  Red 
tentacles  were  reaching  out  and  seeking  to  draw 
her  closer.  Probably  she  was  making  a  brave 
struggle  to  free  herself  and  hoping  at  any  mo- 
ment to  win. 

But  at  what  point  could  he  begin  his  attack 
in  the  light  of  this  new  development?  There 
must  be  something  more  tangible  than  theories 
and  fanciful  ideas  to  lay  before  the  police.  The 
responsibility  must  be  laid  upon  some  one,  with 
facts  to  back  up  the  accusation.  Forrester 


234  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

thought  of  Humphrey  and  his  triangulation 
theory.  It  seemed  as  whimsical  as  tossing  a 
coin,  but  Forrester  decided  to  try. 

Taking  a  pad  and  pencil  he  first  placed  a 
small  circle  for  the  oak  tree.  His  recent  specu- 
lative conclusions  led  him  to  draw  a  small 
square  for  Lucy's  cottage  in  its  approximate 
position  near  the  tree.  Obviously,  Mary  Stur- 
tevant  was  the  next  most  prominent  figure  in  the 
case,  and  with  a  mental  measurement  of  the 
probable  location  of  the  house  she  occupied,  he 
drew  another  square.  The  connecting  of  these 
three  points  with  lines  astounded  Forres- 
ter. He  saw  that  he  had  an  obtuse-angled 
triangle,  with  Lucy  occupying  the  controlling 


However,  there  must  be  one  or  more  addi- 
tional triangles  that  would  overlap,  for  Hum- 
phrey, in  explaining  his  theory,  had  said:  "At 
some  point  the  lines  will  cross"  \ 

Forrester  mused  over  this  for  a  time.  He 
could  not  decide  on  other  points  which  would  be 
near  enough  to  these  to  form  an  overlapping 
triangle.  He  tried  several  ideas  without  result. 
His  own  home  was  too  far  away.  But  how 
about  other  victims?  Suddenly  it  came  to  him. 
The  first  and  last  victims,  so  far  as  he  knew, 


TRIANGULATION 


235 


were  Prentice  and  Melville,  and  the  homes  of 
these  were  reasonably  near.  So  Forrester  placed 
a  square  for  each  of  these  men's  homes  on  his 
sketch.  That  still  left  a  third  point  for  his 
triangle.  He  finally  decided  to  use  the  tree 
again  for  this  point.  The  lines  did  not  cross, 
at  least  in  the  way  he  imagined  Humphrey  had 
in  mind,  but  they  did  serve  to  increase  the  size 
of  his  original  triangle  and  bring  it  to  a  perfect 
form  of  the  isosceles  triangle.  It  was  signifi- 
cant, moreover,  that  the  line  from  Prentice,  the 
•first  victim,  led  directly  through  Lucy's  cottage 
to  the  tree,  and  he  noted  with  a  start  that  the 
line  from  the  Melville  home,  where  the  girl  had 
been  deeply  involved,  led  through  Mary  Stur- 
tevant's  house. 

This  is  the  rough  sketch  as  Forrester  com- 
pleted it: 


Mel/.Me 


236  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

The  way  to  a  solution  unquestionably  led 
through  Lucy  and  Mary  Sturtevant,  if  there 
were  anything  at  all  to  Humphrey's  idea. 
Green  pointed  at  the  girl.  Forrester's  inclina- 
tions led  him  to  the  negress,  and  the  odd  work- 
ing out  of  the  triangle  theory  seemed  to  con- 
firm him  in  his  impressions.  Forrester  decided 
to  investigate  Lucy  at  once.  His  reference  to 
the  police  had  amused  instead  of  angered  her. 
She  had  pithily  expressed  her  disdain  of  them. 
Was  it  not  possible  that  these  feelings  arose 
from  a  sense  of  victory?  In  searching  her 
house,  the  police  had  failed  to  find  something 
that  she  knew  was  there!  Whatever  it  was, 
Forrester  intended  to  locate  it,  and  use  his  in- 
formation for  what  it  might  be  worth. 

Forrester  took  an  electric  pocket  lamp  from 
the  top  of  his  chiffonier,  and  a  dark  mufHer 
from  a  drawer.  These  he  placed  in  his  pocket. 
Then  he  selected  a  cap  of  an  unobtrusive  shade 
and  went  down  to  the  laundry.  There  he 
cut  off  a  short  length  of  clothesline,  wound  it 
around  his  body  and  buttoned  up  his  coat. 

Unlocking  the  laundry  door,  which  opened 
at  the  southern  end  of  the  house,  Forrester 
looked  carefully  around.  He  could  hear  Wil- 
liam whistling  at  his  work  in  the  garage,  while 


TRIANGULATION  237 

above  him  his  sister  was  playing  the  piano  in  the 
music  room.  No  other  sound  reached  him  and 
no  one  was  in  sight.  Forrester  closed  the 
laundry  door  softly  and  stole  across  the  lawn  to 
the  road. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

FACE    TO    FACE 

IT  WAS  bright  moonlight  when  Forrester 
left  the  house  and  walked  south  on  Sheridan 
Road.  He  had  decided  to  walk  to  Lucy's,  be- 
lieving that  he  would  attract  less  attention,  both 
on  the  way  and  after  reaching  his  destination, 
than  if  he  used  his  roadster.  Though  wayside 
trees  cast  great  shadows  across  the.  road,  and  the 
gloom  near  bordering  hedgerows,  or  the  under- 
brush of  vacant  tracts,  afforded  partial  conceal- 
ment, Forrester  looked  with  apprehension  upon 
the  brilliancy  of  the  night.  Fortunately  for  his 
plans,  large  clouds  began  shortly  to  drift  over 
the  moon.  The  gloom  was  more  intense  during 
these  moments  of  darkness  because  of  the  tran- 
sition from  periods  of  strong  moonlight. 

The  night  was  unusually  still,  undoubtedly 
because  of  an  approaching  storm,  and  few 
people  seemed  to  be  abroad.  Only  two  motor 
cars  passed  'him  during  the  j  ourney  between  his 
home  and  Jasper  lane.  One  of  these  passed  at 
a  time  when  the  moon  was  shining  brightly  and 
238 


FACE   TO    FACE  239 

Forrester  was  sure  that  it  was  Melville's  limou- 
sine. At  the  moment,  he  was  walking  in  the 
deep  shadow  of  a  high  hedge  and  was  probably 
invisible  to  the  occupants  of  the  car.  It  was 
a  providential  circumstance,  for  to  be  stopped 
and  questioned  at  this  time  would  not  only  cause 
delay,  but  might  attract  undesirable  attention. 

Reaching  Jasper  lane,  Forrester  kept  to  the 
grass  at  the  side,  and  walking  slowly,  succeeded 
in  approaching  the  oak  tree  without  any  sound 
that  would  be  audible  to  others  than  himself. 
He  paused,  listening  long  and  intently.  The 
silence  seemed  almost  palpable,  its  noiseless 
fingers  clutching  at  him  from  the  darkness.  A 
momentary  flash  of  the  moon  gave  him  his  bear- 
ings. During  the  succeeding  darkness,  Forrester, 
stooping  low,  carefully  felt  his  way  past  the 
tree  and  down  the  path  toward  Lucy's  cottage. 
Unless  the  colored  woman  had  secured  another 
dog,  Forrester  was  sure  that  he  could  reach  her 
door  unnoticed.  It  was  then  his  purpose  to  tie 
her  fast  and  either  frighten  her  into  some  help- 
ful admission  or  else  discover  for  himself  some 
clue  possibly  overlooked  by  the  police. 

The  cottage  stood  dark  and  silent  in  its  little 
clearing.  Forrester  reached  it  without  hearing 
a  sound,  but  he  had  a  momentary  feeling  of  un- 


240  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

easiness  when  the  moon  shone  full  upon  him  as 
he  crossed  the  clearing.  At  the  door  he  paused 
to  consider.  Was  the  woman  away?  Or  had 
she  retired  for  the  night?  If  the  latter,  then 
he  would  probably  be  able  to  surprise  her  while 
she  slept.  Forrester  placed  his  hand  on  the 
doorknob  and  turned  it  slowly  and  quietly. 
Then  he  exerted  a  gentle  pressure,  and  was 
gratified,  though  astonished,  to  find  that  the 
door  opened.  Fearful  of  squeaking  hinges  For- 
rester moved  the  door  inward  an  inch  at  a  time, 
and  entering,  closed  it  in  the  same  careful  way. 
There  was  no  key  in  the  lock,  but  running  his 
hand  along  the  edge  of  the  door,  Forrester 
discovered  a  bolt  which  he  softly  pushed  into 
place. 

Forrester  took  out  the  muffler  and  wound  it 
about  his  neck  and  face  until  only  his  eyes  were 
exposed.  Then  he  pulled  his  cap  down  so  that 
its  vizor  shadowed  even  these.  With  inter- 
mittent and  cautious  flashes  of  his  pocket  lamp 
he  found  that  the  room  was  unoccupied  and  the 
door  leading  to  what  he  believed  to  be  Lucy's 
bedroom  closed.  This  he  approached  with 
wary  tread  and  opened  tne  door  slowly  and 
softly.  A  flash  of  his  light  showed  that  the  bed- 
room was  also  deserted.  Lucy  was  not  at  home! 


FACE   TO    FACE  241 

It  was  a  wonderful  opportunity  that  might  be 
interrupted  at  any  moment,  so  Forrester  worked 
fast.  He  considered  it  immaterial  what  the 
woman  might  discover  after  he  was  gone.  Any 
disorder  she  would  probably  attribute  to  another 
visit  by  the  police. 

Forrester  tore  the  coverings  from  the  bed  and 
scattered  the  contents  of  drawers  on  the  floor. 
His  search  was  unrewarded.  There  was  not  a 
line  of  writing  any  where  j  no  concealed  arms, 
Bolshevik  literature  or  suspicious  bottles  j  abso- 
lutely nothing  to  form  the  slightest  clue.  He 
then  carried  his  search  into  the  sitting  room  with 
equally  unsuccessful  results.  Forrester  received 
an  uncomfortable  shock  as  he  turned  his  pocket 
lamp  into  the  aquarium  and  saw  the  slimy  bodies 
of  the  snakes  writhe  uneasily  under  the  glare  of 
the  light. 

Thus  far  the  search  had  been  fruitless  and 
discouraging,  but  the  sight  of  the  snakes  in  their 
glass  prison  started  Forrester's  mind  to  working. 
What  was  the  real  purpose  of  these  snakes? 
Their  uncanny,  loathsome  bodies  were  repellent 
to  the  strongest  man.  Repellent!  The  word 
was  illuminative.  Was  not  one  of  its  definitions 
"  drive  back  "?  Was  this  the  actual  purpose 
of  the  snakes? 


242  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

Forrester  fixed  the  button  on  his  pocket  lamp 
to  keep  the  light  steady,  and  laid  it  on  the  center 
table  to  illumine  his  work.  Lifting  the  stand 
on  which  the  aquarium  rested  he  placed  it  near 
the  middle  of  the  room  and  pulled  aside  the 
heavy  rug. 

Directly  beneath  the  spot  where  the  aquarium 
stood  was  a  square  trapdoor  in  the  floor! 

Forrester  stooped,  placed  two  fingers  in  a 
hole,  evidently  provided  for  the  purpose,  lifted 
the  section  of  carefully  fitted  flooring  and  set  it 
to  one  side.  Taking  his  light  from  the  table 
and  turning  its  rays  into  the  opening  Forrester 
saw  a  ladder  leading  into  a  cellar  beneath  the 
cottage.  Swiftly  he  dropped  his  legs  through 
the  hole  and  descended. 

The  underground  room  in  which  he  found 
himself  was  smaller  than  the  space  covered  by 
the  cottage.  The  walls  were  of  large  rough 
stones,  showing  evidence  of  dampness.  Along 
these  walls  was  piled  litter  of  a  varied  nature  — 
old  barrels,  boxes,  empty  food  tins  and  the 
broken  remains  of  furniture.  Against  the  front 
wall,  at  a  point  almost  under  the  entrance  door, 
stood  an  old,  dilapidated  sideboard.  It  attracted 
Forrester's  attention  because  he  could  not  con- 
ceive how  such  a  large  object  had  been  brought 


FACE   TO   FACE  243 

into  the  cellar  through  the  small  trap.  It  was 
the  only  thing  in  the  cellar  that  could  be  readily 
moved,  and  Forrester  had  an  inspiration  to  look 
behind  it.  At  the  first  effort  the  sideboard 
swung  out  from  the  wall  on  smooth-running 
casters  that  strangely  had  apparently  not  been 
affected  by  the  dampness  of  the  cellar. 

Moving  the  sideboard  disclosed  a  small, 
rough-board  door  in  the  wall.  This  Forrester 
opened  and  flashed  his  light  into  the  space  be- 
yond. It  seemed  to  be  a  narrow  passage,  the 
floor  a  little  below  the  level  of  the  cellar.  For- 
rester dropped  into  the  passage  and  started 
along  it,  throwing  his  light  about  him  and 
studying  its  formation.  The  floor  was  sandy, 
the  walls  of  solid  rock,  and  the  roof  appeared 
to  have  been  formed  by  a  multitude  of  interlac- 
ing tree  and  plant  roots.  The  average  width  of 
the  passage  was  about  five  feet  and  its  height 
somewhere  between  ten  and  twelve.  Forrester's 
trained  eye  saw  instantly  that  it  was  the  work 
of  Nature,  not  of  man.  At  some  remote  period 
a  cleft  had  been  riven  in  the  solid  rock  and  the 
intertwined  roots  above  prevented  the  caving  in 
of  the  surface  soil. 

A  momentary  sparkle  on  the  ceiling  caught 
Forrester's  eye.  He  then  discovered  that  elec- 


244  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

trie  lights  were  hung  from  the  roof  at  regular 
intervals.  They  were  beyond  his  reach,  and  as 
no  connection  or  switch  along  the  walls  had 
been  discovered,  Forrester  concluded  that  the 
lights  could  be  operated  only  from  some  point 
inside  the  cottage. 

Presently  Forrester  came  to  an  indentation 
in  the  wall  on  his  right,  forming  a  sort  of  shelf. 
On  this  rested  two  bright  steel  cylinders  about 
the  size  of  the  small  fire  extinguisher  he  carried 
in  his  car.  To  one  of  the  cylinders  was  attached 
a  five-foot  length  of  a  slender  rubber  tubing 
which  connected  it  with  one  of  the  rubber  death 
masks  he  knew  only  too  well.  Here  at  last  was 
evidence  beyond  dispute.  Forrester  did  not 
meddle  with  the  cylinders.  The  slightest  mis- 
take made  by  one  unaccustomed  to  them  might 
release  the  deadly  gas  he  had  reason  to  believe 
they  contained.  In  that  confined  space  its  action 
would  be  swift  and  sure. 

Continuing  along  the  passage  Forrester 
finally  came  to  the  end.  At  this  point  it  widened 
out  slightly  into  a  small  chamber.  At  one  side 
a  ladder  led  up  into  a  mass  of  tangled  tree  roots 
that  hung  in  fantastic  shapes,  which  gave  For- 
rester an  uncomfortable  feeling  that  he  had 
stumbled  into  a  veritable  den  of  snakes.  Fore- 


FACE   TO    FACE  245 

ing  back  this  feeling  of  revulsion  he  climbed  the 
ladder. 

Here  the  handiwork  of  man  was  in  evidence. 
He  was  ascending  into  a  space  that  had  been 
hollowed  out  of  the  heart  of  a  tree.  Above  his 
head  was  a  small  wooden  trapdoor  held  in  place 
by  a  wood  slide  or  bolt.  Releasing  the  bolt 
allowed  the  door  to  drop  silently  downward  on 
hinges  formed  of  stiff  leather.  A  package  fell 
into  his  hands,  followed  by  a  draft  of  air  laden 
with  the  scent  of  summer  woods.  Pushing  up 
his  light  Forrester  recognized  the  hollow  in  the 
oak  tree.  He  saw  also  that  the  upper  side  of 
the  trapdoor  was  so  prepared  that  it  would  seem 
like  part  of  the  tree  to  anyone  investigating 
from  above. 

At  last  the  most  vital  secret  of  the  "  Friends 
of  the  Poor  "  was  in  his  hands  —  the  method 
by  which  they  had  so  mysteriously  secured  their 
toll  under  the  very  eyes  of  the  detectives. 

Forrester  examined  the  small,  flat  package  in 
his  hand.  Someone  had  placed  a  contribution  in 
the  tree  that  night.  Then  Forrester  shivered. 
The  scoundrels  would  come  to  collect  at  any 
moment!  He  was  shut  in  at  the  far  end  of  a 
narrow  passage,  the  only  way  of  escape  leading 
back  through  the  cottage  where  they  would 


246  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

enter.  If  they  met  him  here  his  end  would  be 
sure  and  his  disappearance  a  mystery  forever. 
Hastily  he  climbed  down  the  ladder  and  was 
about  to  go  when  several  objects  drew  his  at- 
tention. The  temptation  to  investigate  these 
before  he  left  was  too  strong  to  resist  and  For- 
rester lingered  a  moment  or  two  longer. 

All  the  paraphernalia  that  had  made  possible 
the  ghostly  illusions,  which  had  frightened 
others  and  puzzled  him,  now  lay  revealed  as 
nothing  but  mean  claptrap.  On  the  wall  hung 
a  group  of  rusty  chains,  a  small  megaphone  for 
throwing  the  voice  and  an  old  locomotive  bell. 
In  one  corner  stood  a  tin  similar  to  a  paint  can. 
This,  Forrester  found,  contained  a  preparation 
commonly  known  as  phosphorescent  paint  and 
a  nearby  glove,  which  smelled  strongly  of  the 
substance,  solved  the  riddle  of  the  flaming  hand 
which  had  impressed  even  the  phlegmatic 
Green.  The  greatest  curiosity  of  all,  however, 
was  a  black  tube  standing  against  the  wall.  For- 
rester instantly  remembered  the  appearance  of 
something  of  this  kind  in  Humphrey's  pKoto- 
graph.  On  examination  it  proved  to  be  a  home- 
made periscope.  By  pushing  it  up  into  the 
opening  in  the  oak  tree  it  was  probably  possible 
for  a  person  in  the  cave  to  ascertain  what  was 


FACE   TO    FACE  247 

occurring  on  the  surface.  Forrester  did  not  wait 
to  experiment,  for  he  was  sure  that  on  the  night 
of  the  Italians'  visit  someone  was  taking  in  the 
scene  and  the  projecting  end  of  the  periscope 
had  been  picked  up  by  the  camera. 

Forrester  now  hurried  down  the  passage. 
Unquestionably  he  had  lingered  longer  than 
was  wise,  and  a  quick  escape  was  imperative. 
As  he  passed  back  through  the  passage  Forres- 
ter's engineering  training  caused  him  to  note 
certain  things  about  him.  Though  the  rocky 
walls  and  the  sand  beneath  his  feet  were  now 
dry,  he  saw  indications  that  the  cleft  must  serve 
as  a  drain  for  the  neighborhood.  In  the  winter 
it  was  probably  a  well;  full  of  cold,  stagnant 
water,  which,  he  surmised,  accounted  for  the 
peculiar  inactivity  of  the  "  Friends  of  the 
Poor  "  after  the  winter  rains  and  snow  fell. 

Before  he  reached  the  end  of  the  passage 
Forrester  was  startled  to  hear  a  grating  sound, 
followed  by  a  slight  thud. 

Like  a  flash  the  truth  came  to  him.  Someone 
had  discovered  the  moved  sideboard  and  open 
door  and  surmising  that  the  visitor  was  still  in 
the  cave  had  shut  him  in. 

Forrester  paused  to  reflect.  It  would  be  use- 
less to  try  and  force  his  way  out.  Even  if  he 


248  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

could  get  through  the  door,  which  he  doubted, 
there  was  no  telling  how  many  of  the  band 
were  in  the  cottage.  Forrester  was  unarmed,  as 
he  had  expected  to  deal  only  with  Lucy,  and  a 
battle  with  more  than  one  man  would  be  an  un- 
equal struggle.  To  make  matters  worse,  his 
electric  lamp,  which  had  been  in  constant  use 
since  he  entered  the  cottage,  now  gave  out.  The 
bulb  still  glowed,  but  with  a  dull  light  that  had 
no  power.  Forrester  flung  the  lamp  down  and 
felt  his  way  back  toward  the  tree.  He  reasoned 
that  as  a  package  had  been  placed  in  the  tree  it 
was  more  than  probable  that  detectives  were 
concealed  nearby.  To  climb  into  the  opening  in 
the  tree,  attract  their  attention  by  shouting,  and 
then  give  directions  for  reaching  him,  seemed 
the  only  solution. 

Continued  calls,  however,  brought  no  re- 
sponse. Either  there  were  no  detectives  there, 
or  else  his  cries  for  help,  which  necessarily  had 
to  be  subdued,  were  acting  on  superstitious 
minds  and  accomplishing  just  the  opposite  of 
what  he  intended  —  driving  help  away.  For- 
rester ceased  his  calls  and  climbed  slowly  down 
into  the  cave  once  more. 

. 

Suddenly  the  place  was  brilliantly  illuminated 
by  the  turning  on  of  the  electric  lights  over  his 


FACE   TO    FACE  249 

head.  The  meaning  of  this  was  clear.  The 
time  had  come  when  he  must  fight  for  his  life 
and  Forrester  looked  about  for  a  weapon. 
There  was  nothing  that  would  serve  his  purpose. 
Then  he  recollected  the  cylinders.  Who  knew 
better  than  these  men  their  death-dealing 
power?  With  these  cylinders  in  his  hands  would 
it  not  be  possible  to  hold  his  assailants  at  bay  — 
even  to  overcome  them?  Forrester  dashed 
down  the  passage  to  reach  the  cylinders  before 
his  enemies.  It  was  too  late!  As  he  rounded  a 
slight  curve  in  the  rocky  cleft  he  saw  the  figure 
of  a  man  only  a  short  distance  away.  Still  there 
might  be  time.  He  could  see  the  depression 
where  the  cylinders  rested  and  the  man  was 
some  distance  on  the  other  side.  Forrester 
kept  on,  but  his  hopes  fell  as  he  saw  the  man 
reach  the  spot  first  and  stop. 

Forrester  also  came  to  a  halt  and  the  two  men 
surveyed  each  other  in  silence.  Completely 
covering  the  man's  head  and  shoulders  was  a 
black  hood.  Through  two  slits  Forrester  could 
see  the  sparkle  of  his  eyes.  Forrester  recalled 
Prentice's  description  of  the  two  hooded  men 
who  had  attacked  him  and  realized  that  at  last 
he  was  face  to  face  with  the  "Friends  of  the 
Poor." 


250  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

The  man  moved  forward.  As  he  approached, 
his  body  slightly  crouched  like  a  wrestler  wait- 
ing for  his  opening,  Forrester  took  heart.  If  it 
was  simply  to  be  a  hand  to  hand  contest  and  the 
men  came  only  one  at  a  time,  then  there  was 
some  hope. 

Forrester  kept  the  man  off  at  first  with  his 
fists,  but  at  length  they  closed  and  a  desper- 
ate struggle  began.  Back  and  forth  they  tugged 
and  pulled,  neither  man  seemingly  gaining  any 
advantage.  All  at  once  Forrester  saw  the  cylin- 
ders at  his  side  and  suddenly  realized  that 
throughout  the  struggle  the  man  had  been 
slowly  dragging  him  along  toward  these  death 
machines.  And  with  the  realization  he  saw  the 
man  reach  out  and  seize  the  one  with  the  rub- 
ber mask  attached. 

From  that  moment  the  battle  changed.  For- 
rester's one  thought  was  to  keep  the  mask  away 
from  his  face,  while  the  man's  main  effort  was 
evidently  directed  toward  placing  it  there. 
Presently  Forrester  detected  the  peculiar  odor 
of  the  gas.  Either  the  cylinder  had  been  acci- 
dentally opened  in  the  struggle  or  the  man  had 
intentionally  released  the  gas.  As  the  mask 
was  directed  toward  Forrester,  and  only  a  few 
inches  from  his  face,  he  received  the  full  effect 


FACE   TO    FACE  251 

of  the  fumes,  while  the  man  was  partially  pro- 
tected from  its  effect.  Forrester  felt  himself 
weakening,  as  he  had  on  the  night  of  the  battle 
in  Jasper  lane. 

With  a  last  despairing  effort  he  tripped  his 
antagonist  and  as  they  fell  Forrester  managed 
to  come  down  on  top.  Slowly  he  forced  the 
mask  over  the  man's  hooded  face  and  just  as  he 
had  it  in  place  Forrester  sank  down  unconscious. 


CHAPTER   XX 

THE    INVISIBLE    DETECTIVE 

FORRESTER  awoke  to  find  himself  in  the 
same  bedroom  in  which  he  had  recovered 
consciousness  after  the  attack  made  upon  him  in 
Jasper  lane.  The  recognition  of  his  surround- 
ings was  a  shocking  stimulant.  Like  a  flash  the 
whole  scene  in  the  underground  passage  was 
recalled. 

That  he  should  again  have  been  rescued  by 
the  girl  possessed  a  significance  which  permitted 
of  no  alleviating  doubt.  Mary  Sturtevant  was 
unquestionably  hand  and  glove  with  the 
"  Friends  of  the  Poor."  Forrester  closed  his 
eyes  and  groaned.  He  loved  her  —  would 
have  redeemed  her  from  their  clutches  —  but 
she  had  not  listened  to  him.  Now  the  whole 
terrible  secret  was  within  his  grasp  and  yet  that 
love  for  her  must  hold  him  back! 

How  could  he  expose  the  "  Friends  of  the 

Poor  "  and  drag  her  down  in  the  crash?     Bol- 

sheviki  they  might  be  —  murderers  they  surely 

were.     Public  opinion,  aroused  now  to  fever 

252 


THE    INVISIBLE    DETECTIVE     253 

heat,  would  see  that  not  one  escaped  the  full 
penalty.  Unless  the  girl  were  part  and  parcel 
with  the  organization  and  knew  their  inmost 
secrets  —  their  every  move  —  she  would  never 
have  been  close  at  hand  to  save  him  from  that 
hidden  passage  where  no  one  knew  that  he  had 
gone. 

Suddenly  he  felt  a  cool,  soft  hand  upon  his 
forehead.  He  opened  his  eyes  and  turned  his 
head.  Mary  Sturtevant  sat  by  the  bedside,  gaz- 
ing down  at  him  with  bright  eyes  as  she  gently 
stroked  his  head. 

"  Mary,"  he  whispered,  reproachfully,  "  I 
can't  believe  it!  " 

"  Oh,  Robert,"  she  exclaimed,  "  are  you  feel- 
ing all  right  again?  I  have  been  so  worried.  It 
is  two  days  since  we  brought  you  here.  Each 
time  you  awoke  you  were  delirious  and  we  had 
to  give  you  sleeping  powders  to  keep  you  quiet." 

Then  she  seized  his  hands  in  her  own  and 
held  them  close  to  her.  "  Robert,"  she  mur- 
mured, "  now  that  it  is  all  over,  I  can  answer 
you.  /  love  you!  n 

He  drew  her  hands  back  to  him  and  pressed 
them  to  his  lips.  "  All  over?  "  he  queried,  at 
last.  "  What  do  you  mean?  " 

"  I  know  it  is  against  the  doctor's  orders  to 


254  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

excite  you,"  she  answered,  "  but  I  cannot  stand 
this  dreadful  suspense  any  longer.  There  is  a 
man  waiting  downstairs  who  can  explain  all.  I 
have  made  him  stay  close  at  hand  every  day  so 
that  when  your  mind  became  clear  you  could 
know  the  whole  story  immediately.  I  will 
bring  him  up  now,"  and  Mary  Sturtevant  with- 
drew her  hands  from  Forrester's  clasp  and  ran 
out  of  the  room. 

In  a  few  minutes  she  returned,  followed  by  a 
tall,  broad-shouldered  man,  with  kindly  brown 
eyes  and  streaks  of  gray  in  his  thick,  dark  hair. 
He  smiled  down  reassuringly  at  Forrester  as 
the  girl  introduced  him. 

"  This,"  she  announced,  happily,  "  is  Mr. 
Keith  Marten,  whom  I  call  the  invisible  de- 
tective." 

Marten  took  Forrester's  hand  and  held  it  for 
a  moment  with  a  warm,  friendly  clasp,  as  he 
said,  "  I  am  very  glad  to  meet  you  face  to  face, 
Mr.  Forrester.  I  have  known  you  well  for 
weeks,  but  chiefly  from  some  distance.  As  Miss 
Sturtevant  says,  I  have  endeavored  to  remain 
invisible." 

Marten  then  drew  a  chair  near  the  bed  and 
sat  down. 

"  Do  either  of  you  mind  my  smoking?  "  he 


THE    INVISIBLE    DETECTIVE     255 

asked,  taking  a  cigar  from  his  pocket.  "  To- 
bacco is  my  principal  failing  —  one,  however, 
which  I  believe  I  share  in  common  with  all  who 
must  draw  deeply  upon  nervous  force  in  their 
work." 

Both  urged  him  to  smoke,  and  while  Marten 
lighted  his  cigar,  Mary  Sturtevant  explained  his 
connection  with  the  case  to  Forrester. 

"  Mr.  Marten  was  in  the  Government  Secret 
Service  for  many  years,  and  has  had  his  own 
investigative  service  for  some  time. 

"  You  probably  noticed  that  the  majority  of 
the  men  victimized  by  this  supposed  band  of  ex- 
tortioners were  prominent  in  banking  circles. 
That  constituted  a  direct  assault  upon  the  bank- 
ing fraternity.  While  people  outside  of  bank- 
ing circles  did  not  know  of  it,  this  persecution 
was  gradually  bringing  on  an  actual  financial 
panic.  When  it  was  rumored  that  a  banker  had 
given  up  a  large  sum  to  this  supposed  society,  or 
his  murder  was  reported,  a  mild  run  resulted  at 
the  bank  with  which  he  was  associated.  If  there 
had  been  only  one  or  two  cases  this  would  have 
had  little  effect,  but  as  numerous  banks  were 
brought  into  the  matter  there  was  a  tendency  to 
spread  this  fear  and  the  germs  of  a  panic  were 
insidiously  gripping  financial  circles.  The  mat- 


256  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

ter  was  finally  taken  up  at  a  special  conference 
of  the  Midland  Bankers'  Association. 

"  Shortly  before  you  were  selected  as  a  vic- 
tim, the  M.  B.  A.  engaged  Mr.  Marten  to  solve 
the  riddle  of  the  c  Friends  of  the  Poor,'  and  the 
secret  toll  which  they  were  imposing  upon 
bankers.  Mr.  Marten  has  been  the  invisible 
detective,  working  behind  the  scenes  in  this  case. 
Just  how  he  accomplished  his  great  work  I  shall 
leave  to  Mr.  Marten  to  tell  you." 

"  Your  story  will  certainly  interest  me," 
declared  Forrester,  smiling  at  Marten,  and 
elated  at  the  thought  that  Mary  Sturtevant  had 
been  working  in  a  good  cause.  "  I  had  about 
lost  faith  in  the  supposed  abilities  of  detectives." 

"  There  are  many  able  detectives,"  replied 
Marten.  "  You  made  your  first  mistake  in  not 
going  to  a  high-class  detective  agency.  You  can- 
not judge  the  ability  of  all  detectives  by  ex- 
policemen  like  Green,  or  by  the  average  city 
men.  To  become  a  city  detective,  a  man  must 
put  in  long  service  as  a  policeman  j  and  even 
then  he  has  no  guarantee  that  he  will  ever  be 
promoted  to  the  detective  section.  The  peculiar 
type  of  brain,  the  scientific  turn  of  mind,  and  the 
education  which  make  an  efficient  detective, 
naturally  render  long  preliminary  service  as  a 


THE    INVISIBLE    DETECTIVE     257 

policeman  abhorrent  to  the  men  who  make  the 
best  detectives.  Moreover,  the  physical  re- 
quirements of  the  police  department  shut  out 
many  brilliant  thinkers.  Consequently,  the  best 
detective  material  seldom,  if  ever,  reaches  city 
police  departments. 

"  The  whole  principle  is  wrong,  and  until 
some  other  system  is  established  we  will  con- 
tinue to  see  fine  specimens  of  physical  develop- 
ment, whose  very  appearance  advertises  their 
calling,  trying  to  solve  intricate  criminal  cases 
by  muscle-power  instead  of  brain-power.  It  is 
analogous  to  placing  a  prize  fighter  in  the  chair 
of  higher  mathematics  at  some  university. 

"  Forgive  me,  Mr.  Forrester,  if  I  bore  you 
with  these  extraneous  comments,  but  it  is  a  sub- 
ject that  takes  up  much  of  my  leisure  time.  I 
hope,  by  educating  influential  men  like  you,  that 
the  system  will  be  changed  j  that  eventually  we 
will  have  a  great  central  department  like  Scot- 
land Yard3  or  that  the  detective  bureaus  of 
large  cities  will  be  separate  from  the  regular 
police  departments." 

"You  do  not  bore  me,  Mr.  Marten,"  re- 
turned Forrester.  "  On  the  contrary,  I  am 
deeply  interested  j  especially  because  of  what 
happened  in  the  present  case." 


258  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

"Well,  enough  of  that,"  said  Marten. 
"  Now  for  the  story  I  came  here  to  tell. 

"  Unlike  police  detectives,  I  do  not  immedi- 
ately ascribe  a  crime  to  the  lower  criminal 
classes.  I  know  that  criminal  tendencies  ex- 
tend upward  through  every  stratum  of  society. 
My  first  effort,  therefore,  is  to  place  the  possi- 
ble social  standing  of  the  criminal,  and  thus 
learn  approximately  where  to  look  for  him. 

"  In  the  present  instance  I  took  all  the  avail- 
able data  and  analyzed  the  situation.  Two 
points  impressed  me  at  once.  One,  that  for 
approximately  a  year  not  a  single  clue  had  been 
discovered.  Second,  the  enormous  amount  of 
money  which  had  been  extorted.  This  had 
reached  the  sum  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars." 

"  I  considered  those  points,"  said  Forrester, 
"  but  they  gave  me  no  clue." 

"  Ah,  because  you  lacked  two  things,"  re- 
turned Marten.  "  Experience  and  the  outside 
viewpoint.  Now,  in  analyzing  the  first  point,  I 
seriously  doubted  the  existence  of  a  group  of 
men  as  implied  by  the  name  i  Friends  of  the 
Poor.'  When  a  gang  is  operating  it  is  difficult 
to  hold  the  men  together.  Something  slips 
sooner  or  later,  just  as  in  the  case  of  those  West 


THE    INVISIBLE   DETECTIVE    259 

Side  Italians  who  were  caught  by  the  police.  I 
became  convinced  that  we  had  to  deal  with  one 
man  only.  I  was  even  more  convinced  of  this 
when  I  considered  the  amount  of  money  in- 
volved. To  have  attempted  to  split  so  vast  an 
amount  in  an  equitable  way  among  a  number  of 
ordinary  criminals  would  eventually  have  led  to 
dissensions  and  exposure. 

"  Then,  in  considering  this  second  point  by 
itself,  I  saw  that  we  had  to  deal  with  no  ordi- 
nary criminal.  It  was  a  vast  sum,  and  the 
ordinary  criminal  type  does  not  think  in  such 
large  figures.  The  result  of  this  analysis  gave 
me  two  clues:  first,  that  we  probably  had  to 
deal  with  not  more  than  one  man;  and  second, 
that  this  man  was  a  much  higher  type  than  the 
common  malefactor. 

"  Another  point  to  consider  was  the  manner 
of  death  of  those  victims  who  failed  to  make 
their  payments.  These  men  were  all  asphyxi- 
ated. I  did  not  know  the  exact  method  at 
the  time,  as  I  know  it  now,  but  the  principle 
remained  the  same.  To  accomplish  this  asphyx- 
iation, I  reasoned  that  the  victim  must  be  lured 
to  some  place  for  the  purpose.  If  only  one  man 
were  engaged  in  the  work,  it  was  obvious  that  he 
was  not  only  acquainted  with  the  victims'  habits, 


260  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

but  probably  sufficiently  well  acquainted  with 
the  victims  themselves  to  possess  their  confi- 
dence. All  this  pointed  to  a  man  of  high  social 
position. 

"  My  next  step,  therefore,  was  to  make  a  list 
of  the  victims  and  all  their  business  and  social 
acquaintances.  I  then  compared  these  lists  to 
ascertain  the  men  known  in  common  to  all,  or 
the  majority  of  the  victims.  In  this  way  I  dis- 
covered a  certain  number  of  men  known  to  all 
the  victims.  The  lives  and  habits  of  these  men 
were  investigated  in  search  of  a  possible  clue. 
No  definite  results.  Finally,  pondering  over 
the  case  one  day,  the  initials  of  one  man  im- 
pressed themselves  upon  me.  His  initials  were 
F.  P.  —  the  same  initials  that  would  stand  for 
'  Friends  of  the  Poor.'  Such  a  clue  might  seem 
fantastic.  In  criminal  investigation,  however, 
clues  are  often  the  result  of  inspiration,  and  I 
could  not  afford  to  let  this  coincidence  pass.  I 
made  a  more  thorough  investigation  into  the 
history  and  actions  of  Frederick  Prentice." 

"  Frederick  Prentice !  "  gasped  Forrester, 
starting  up  in  bed. 

"  Exactly,"  returned  Marten,  "  the  supposed 
first  victim." 

"  Our  families  have  been  friends  for  years," 


THE    INVISIBLE    DETECTIVE    261 

groaned  Forrester.  "  His  daughter,  Diana,  and 
myself  were  childhood  companions.  How 
could  he  attempt  my  life?  J 

"  The  man  was  mentally  unsound,"  explained 
Marten.  "  The  successful  operation  of  his 
scheme  excited  his  weakening  brain  until  it 
became  an  obsession  with  him.  Although  he 
had  achieved  his  original  purpose  of  recuper- 
ating his  broken  fortunes,  I  believe  he  continued 
his  threats  and  killing  for  the  sheer  insane  joy 
of  playing  with  his  victim  and  then  killing  him. 
Possibly,  the  attendant  mystery  and  notoriety 
also  appealed  to  some  perverted  side  of  his 
nature." 

"  Go  on  with  your  story,"  said  Forrester. 

"  These  were  the  facts  which  I  discovered 
about  Prentice,"  continued  Marten.  "  His 
mother  died  years  ago  in  a  private  sanitarium 
for  the  insane  on  Long  Island,  New  York. 
This  showed  a  possibilty  that  Prentice's  mind 
might  be  affected,  and  in  its  weakness  assume  a 
criminal  trend.  I  found  that  Prentice's  father 
had  willed  him  a  certain  amount  of  money,  and 
that  Prentice  had  lost  approximately  this 
amount  in  the  stock  market.  That  showed  a 
possible  reason  for  his  step,  for  Prentice  had  a 
rather  expensive  wife  and  daughter  to  maintain, 


262  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

and  he  knew  absolutely  nothing  of  business. 
Prentice's  father  also  willed  him  the  piece  of 
property  upon  which  the  oak  tree  stands.  A  few 
weeks  before  the  affair  started,  Prentice  osten- 
sibly sold  this  property  to  a  man  named  Hans 
Eckmeier,  who  in  turn  quickly  sold  it  to  a 
colored  woman  who  lived  in  a  small  cottage  on 
the  property  —  a  woman,  by  the  way,  without 
visible  means  of  support,  and  without  any  finan- 
cial resources  which  could  be  located.  This 
unquestionably  indicated  preliminary  prepara- 
tion designed  to  eliminate  any  connection  of 
Prentice  with  the  property.  There  were 
rumors,  too,  that  this  woman  had  murdered  her 
husband.  Rumors  are  hardly  to  be  considered 
as  evidence,  yet  this  story  offered  a  possible 
basis  for  Prentice  having  a  hold  over  the 
negress. 

"Further  investigation  revealed  the  fact  that 
Hans  Eckmeier  had  received  considerable  finan- 
cial assistance  at  different  periods  from  Prentice, 
and  was  under  obligation  to  him.  Moreover, 
this  man,  who  was  a  chemist,  had  invented  a 
deadly  poison  gas,  the  formula  of  which  he  sold 
to  the  German  Government  just  previous  to  the 
war.  Here,  Mr.  Forrester,  were  a  remarkable 
series  of  clues. 


THE    INVISIBLE    DETECTIVE    263 

"  If  we  could  back  these  with  a  few  pieces  of 
actual  evidence,  our  case  was  closed.  That  was 
the  problem  j  how  to  get  the  evidence.  I  dared 
not  appear  in  the  case  myself,  nor  have  ordinary 
detectives  come  into  contact  with  Prentice,  with- 
out the  danger  of  arousing  his  suspicions  j  yet  it 
was  imperative  that  someone  possessing  investi- 
gative instincts  should  come  into  close  associa- 
tion with  this  man. 

"  During  the  war,  while  I  was  engaged  in 
secret  service  work  in  New  York,  Miss  Sturte- 
vant,  like  many  other  women  of  her  station  in 
life,  was  of  great  assistance  to  the  Government. 
Because  of  her  social  position  it  was  possible  for 
her  to  take  her  place  in  Prentice's  social  set  with- 
out arousing  any  suspicion  as  to  her  purpose. 
It  was  arranged  through  the  M.B.A.  for  her  to 
rent  the  Bradbury  house  for  the  summer.  This 
house  was  located  sufficiently  near  the  tree  for 
her  to  watch  it,  and  also  within  easy  reach  of 
Prentice's  home.  The  M.B.A.  arranged  for 
Miss  Sturtevant  to  receive  letters  of  introduc- 
tion to  Chicago  people  who  would  be  most  help- 
ful to  her.  The  stage  was  completely  set  for 
our  work  just  about  the  time  you  received  your 
notice,  and  we  hoped,  through  Prentice's  attack 
upon  you,  to  get  the  definite  evidence  we 


264  THE   SECRET   TOLL 

desired.  That  explains,  for  example,  the  tele- 
phone calls  you  received.  I  attempted  to  find 
out  about  the  time  you  would  place  the  money 
in  the  tree  so  as  to  make  proper  arrangements. 
When  you  refused  the  information  Miss  Sturte- 
vant  obtained  it  for  me.  We  expected  Prentice 
to  go  to  the  tree,  and  Miss  Sturtevant  was  placed 
in  a  very  fortunate  position  to  watch  him  that 
night  by  being  invited  to  a  dinner  and  dance  at 
his  home;  his  family,  of  course,  being  entirely 
ignorant  of  his  schemes.  I  received  a  report 
from  her  on  Prentice's  lawn,  shortly  after  you 
left,  and  hurried  to  the  tree.  I  was  standing 
only  a  short  distance  back  of  the  tree  during  the 
whole  affair. 

"  You  are  familiar  with  the  fiasco  which  the 
city  detectives  brought  about  that  night.  The 
package  mysteriously  disappeared,  and  as  I 
learned  later  through  Miss  Sturtevant  that 
Prentice  left  the  dance  for  approximately  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour,  he  undoubtedly  secured  it. 
We  were  absolutely  sure  then  that  Prentice  was 
the  chief  conspirator,  probably  being  assisted  by 
the  chemist  and  the  negress,  Lucy.  But  we  had 
no  actual  evidence. 

"  Our  next  opportunity  was  furnished  by  the 
Melville  incident." 


THE    INVISIBLE    DETECTIVE    265 

"  Tell  me  one  thing,"  interrupted  Forrester. 
"  What  was  Mary's  connection  with  that 
affair?  " 

"  I  can  explain  that,  Robert,"  replied  the  girl. 
"  I  knew  that  Mr.  Melville  was  in  danger  when 
I  saw  Prentice  there.  After  going  to  the  con- 
servatory with  his  son,  it  suddenly  occurred  to 
me  that  I  might  find  some  evidence  in  Prentice's 
car  —  particularly  as  I  now  knew  about  the  gas 
and  the  mask  through  your  adventure.  Know- 
ing that  my  next  dances  were  with  you,  I  felt 
that  no  special  attention  would  be  drawn  to  my 
absence,  so  I  excused  myself  and  slipped  out. 
In  the  compartment  under  the  front  seat  of 
Prentice's  car  I  found  one  of  the  gas  cylinders 
with  the  mask  attached.  Hoping  to  avert  an- 
other murder  I  tried  to  stuff  my  handkerchief 
into  the  tube.  The  handkerchief  was  too  large, 
so  I  tore  it  in  half  and  then  succeeded." 

"  And,"  completed  Marten,  "  the  gas  being 
forced  into  the  cylinder  under  pressure,  it  natu- 
rally blew  out  the  handkerchief  when  released  j 
a  mechanical  condition  which  did  not  occur  to 
Miss  Sturtevant.  Your  curious  suspicions  of 
Miss  Sturtevant,  by  the  way,  made  it  very  hard 
for  her  at  times.  We  dared  not  let  you  into  the 
secret,  because  a  hot-headed  young  man  like 


266  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

you  might  have  upset  our  carefully  laid  plans. 
It  should  be  unnecessary  now  for  us  to  explain 
in  detail  the  various  little  incidents  which 
aroused  your  suspicions  of  her.  With  your 
present  knowledge  of  the  case  you  can  easily 
understand  the  underlying  cause  in  each 
instance. 

"  Incidentally,  Mr.  Forrester,"  added  Mar- 
ten, soothingly,  "  I  want  to  compliment  you 
upon  some  of  your  amateur  detective  work. 
You  frequently  showed  fine  detective  instincts, 
and  it  was  entirely  due  to  you  that  we  discov- 
ered how  the  money  was  obtained  from  the  tree. 
Without  your  visit  to  the  cottage,  that  point  at 
least  might  have  remained  a  mystery." 

"  But  you  have  not  told  me  how  the  case 
finally  worked  out,  Mr.  Marten,"  reminded 
Forrester. 

"  I  was  coming  to  that,"  returned  Marten. 
"  We  had  definitely  decided  that  the  money  was 
obtained  from  the  tree  in  some  way  through  the 
agency  of  Lucy.  It  was  arranged  with  Melville 
to  make  a  pretense  of  putting  money  in  the  tree. 
Miss  Sturtevant  managed  to  convey  the  infor- 
mation to  Prentice  that  Melville  would  do  this 
on  a  certain  night  —  the  night  of  your  visit,  to 
be  exact. 


THE    INVISIBLE    DETECTIVE     267 

"  Then,  instead  of  watching  the  tree,  as  all 
had  done  before,  we  watched  the  woman's  cot- 
tage. At  the  time  you  entered,  the  cottage  was 
surrounded  by  my  men  and  Miss  Sturtevant 
and  I  were  close  at  hand.  You  may  be  sure  you 
gave  us  a  shock,  but  we  planned  to  let  all  who 
wished  to  do  so,  enter  the  cottage,  but  none 
would  be  allowed  to  leave.  You  were  the  first. 
Later,  Lucy  appeared,  and  it  is  assumed  that  she 
discovered  you  in  the  cave.  When  Prentice  ar- 
rived, Lucy  warned  him,  and  between  them  they 
hastily  prepared  the  hood  with  which  he  dis- 
guised himself.  Yes,"  added  Marten,  noting 
Forrester's  astounded  expression,  "  that  was 
Prentice  with  whom  you  fought.  We  entered 
the  passage  just  as  you  conquered  him." 

"  And  you  have  captured  them  all !  "  ex- 
claimed Forrester. 

"  On  the  contrary,"  replied  Marten,  "  they 
are  all  dead  —  but  the  case  is  solved." 

"  Dead !  "  repeated  Forrester. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marten.  "  You  killed  Prentice 
with  his  own  gas.  Lucy  escaped  and  went  to 
warn  the  chemist.  He,  probably  realizing  that 
escape  was  impossible,  killed  both  Lucy  and 
himself  with  the  gas.  We  found  their  bodies 
when  we  went  to  his  place.  The  most  intricate 


268  THE    SECRET   TOLL 

case  of  my  career,  therefore,  has  been  satisfac- 
torily solved  and  a  terrible  menace  removed." 

"  And  Prentice's  family,"  murmured  Forres- 
ter. "  What  about  them?  " 

"  Mrs.  Prentice  turned  everything  over  to  the 
M.B.A.  She  had  a  small  private  income,  how- 
ever, which  the  association  refused  to  touch. 
She  and  her  daughter,  Diana,  left  this  morning 
to  go  to  Europe,  where  they  will  remain  indefi- 
nitely. 

"  Now,"  terminated  Marten,  rising,  "  I  am 
sure  that  I  have  cleared  Miss  Sturtevant  of  any 
suspicion  in  your  eyes,  and  I  will  leave  you  two 
together  to  solve  any  further  problems  you 
may  have  in  your  own  way." 

Marten  shook  hands  with  Forrester  and 
Mary  Sturtevant  and  left  the  room.  A  minute 
later  they  heard  the  thrumming  of  the  engine  as 
he  drove  away  in  his  car. 

THE    END 


A     000129067     5 


